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littp://www.arcli ive.org/details/liistoryofromefroOOIidd 



a. Coliseum. 

b. Meta Sudan!^. 

c. Arch of Constantinc. 

d. Arch of Titus and Velia. 

e. Mount Palatine. 
/. Excavated level of the 

Forum. 
g. Present level of Forum 
It. Arch of Severus. 
i. Temple of Vespasian. / / 

t. Temple of Saturn. 
I. Clivas Gapitolinus 
m. Capitol. 




ROME. 

BIBD'S-EYE view op the FOKUM FKOM the CAPITOL. 



•HISTORY OF ROME 



FROM THE KARLIEST TIMES TO THE ESTABLISHMENT 
OF THE EMPIRE. 



WITH CHAPTERS ON THE HISTORY OP LITERATURE 
AND ART. 



BY HENEY G^^ LIDDELL, D.D., 

DEAN OP CHKIBT CHURCn, OXFORD. 




ILLUSTEATED BY NUMEROUS WOODCUTS. 



NEW YOEK: 
HARPER & BROTHERS, 

FRANKLIN SQUARE. 

1868. 



(o 



,ui 



THE STUDENT'S HISTORIES, UNIFORM WITH THIS WORK. 

THE STUDENT'S FEANCE : A Histoky of France, from the 
Eakhebt Times to the Establishment of the Second Empire in 1S52. Illus- 
trated by Engravings on Wood. 12mo, 742 pages, Cloth, $2 00. 

THE STUDENT'S HUME : A History of England from the Ear- 
liest Times to the Revoltjtion in 1688. By Dayid Hume. Abridged. Incor- 
porating the Corrections and Researches of Recent Historians, and continued 
down to the Year 1851. Illustrated by Engravings on Wood. 12mo, 805 pages, 
Cloth, $2 00. 

THE STUDENT'S HISTORY OF GREECE : A History of Greece 
fkom the Earliest Times to the Roman Conquest. With Supplementary Chap- 
ters on the Historj' of Literature and Art. By William Smith, LL.D., Editor of 
the "Classical Dictionary," "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities," &c. 
Revised, with an Appendix by Prof. Geo. W. Greene, A.M. Illustrated by 100 
Engravings on Wood. 12mo, 738 pages. Cloth, $2 00. 

iiW A SMALLER HISTORY OF GREECE: The above Work Abridged for 
Younger Students and Common Schools. Engravings. 16mo, 272 pages, 
Cloth, $1 00. 

THE STUDENT'S HISTORY OF ROME : A History of Rome from 

the Earliest Times to the Establishment op the Empire. With Chapters on the 
History of Literature and Art. By Henry G. Lipdell, D.D., Dean of Christ Church, 
Oxford. Illustrated by numerous Woodcuts. 12mo, 77S pages. Cloth, $2 00. 

t®- Dr. SMITH'S SMALLER HISTORY OF ROME from the Earliest Times 
to the Establishment of the Empire. Continued to the Fall of the Western 
Empire in the Year 476. By Eugene Lawrence, A.M. Engravings. ICmo, 
400 pages, Cloth, $1 00. 

THE STUDENT'S GIBBON : The History of the Decline and Fall 
OF THE Roman Empire. By Edward Gibuon. Abridged. Incorporating the 
Researches of recent Commentators. By William Smith, LL.D., Editor of the 
" Classical Dictionary," "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities," &c. Il- 
lustrated by 100 Engravings on Wood. 12mo, 706 pages. Cloth, $2 00. 



48 6555 

AU(5 2 7 1942 




Coin of Civsar in 4111 Dietatorsliip, p. C9-i. 



CONTENTS 



INTRODUCTION. 

Sect. 

I. Physical Geography of Italy . . 

II. Early Population of Italy . . . . 14 



FAGB 
1 



BOOK I 

ROME UNDER THE KINGS. 
Chap. 

I. Origin of Rome : Romulus and Numa 

n. TuUus HostUius and Anous Martins, the third and fourth kings 

III. Tarquinius Priscus and Servius Tullius, the fifth and sixth kings 

IV. Tarquinius Superbus, and the iDeginnings of the Republic . . 
V. Observations on the history of Rome under the kings . . 



21 

.'iS 
58 
70 



BOOK . II. 

ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. 
B.C. Chap. 

— ' VI. Decline of Roman power after the expulsion of the 

Tarquins. Geographical sketch of the neighbour- 
hood of Rome 79 

— VII. The Tribunate 87 

— VIII. Agrarian law. The election of the Tribunes trans- 

ferred to the Tribes 95 

496-450. IX. "Wars and foreign affairs from the battle of LakeRegil- 

lus to the Decemvirate 101 

470-449. X. Continued struggle between the Orders. The Decem- 

Tirate Ill 

— XI. The Code of the Twelve Tables 124 

448-406. XIT. Sequel of the Decemvirate. Military Tribunate. Gen- 
eral liistory to the war with Veil 128 

448-391. XIII. Wars since the Decemvirate. Siege of Veii .. .. 136 
390. XIV. The Gaiils 143 



CONTENTS. 



u.c. 
389-367. 



Chap. Page 
XV. Sequel of the Gallic "War. Licinian Laws. Final 

equalization of the two Orders 152 

XVI. Sources of early Roman history 162 



BOOK III. 

ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. (b.C, 366—265.) 

366-344. XVII. Sequel of the Licinian Laws. Civil History to the 

first Samnite War 167 

389-344. XVIII. Wars from the burnmg of Rome to the first Sam- 
nite War 172 

343-341. XIX. First Samnite War 177 

340-338. • XX. Great Latin War. Subjection of Latium . . . . 194 

337-326. XXL Events leadhig to the Second Samnite War . . 195 

326-304. XXII. The Great Samnite War, commonly called the 

Second 199 

299-290. XXIIL Third Samnite War 209 

— XXIV. Civil History during the time of the Samnite 

Wars 216 

289-282. XXV. Events between the Third Samnite War and the 

landing of Pyrrhus 224 

280-275. XXVI. Pyrrhus in Italy 237 

274-264. XXVII. Final reduction and settlement of Italy . . . . 248 



BOOK IV. 



ROME AND CARTHAGE. 



— 


XXVIIL 


263-241. 


XXIX. 


— 


XXX. 


218-216. 


XXXL 


215-211. 


XXXII. 


210-207. 


XXXIII. 


206-202. 


XXXIV. 


— 


XXXV. 


— 


XXXVL 


— 


XXXVTT. 



Carthage. Events leading to First Punic War . . 259 

First Punic War 267 

Events between the First and Second Punic Wars 282 

Second Punic War. First Period 296 

Second Punic War. Second Period 321 

Second Punic War. Third Period 336 

Second Punic War. Fourth and last Period . . 350 

Government and Constitutional Changes up to the 

close of the Hannibalic War 369 

The Provinces and Finances 386 

Social and Intellectual Condition of the People. 

Manners — Rehgion — Literature — Art . . . 394 



CONTENTS. 



BOOK V. 

KOME AND THE CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. (b.c. 201-132.) 

B.C. Chap. Page 

— XXXVIII. Introductory: State of the Eastern World .. .. 412 

214r-194 XXXIX. First and Second Macedonian Wars: Settlement 

of Greece by Flamininus 419 

192-188. XL. War with Antiochus, and settlement of Eastern 

Aifairs 432 

200-lT'7. XLI. Wars in the West contemporaneous with the 

Macedonian and Syrian Wars . . .... . . 441 

200-169. XLII. Civil History during the Macedonian and Syrian 
Wars : Corruption of manners : Senatorial pre- 
dominance : Scipio and Cato 446 

180-168. XLIIL The Third Macedonian War, or War of Perseus. . 456 
1G6-150. XLIV. General History between the War with Perseus 

and the last Wars with Greece and Carthage . . 407 

151-146. XLV. The last Wars with Macedon and Greece : Fall of 

Corinth 476 

150-146. XLVL Third Punic War : Fall of Carthage .: .. .. 481 

149-133. XLVIL Spanish Wars: Fall of Numantia 491 

133-131. XLVIIL Fu-st Slave-War in Sicily 497 

— XLTX. The condition of Rome and her People at the close 

of the Period of Conquest . . , 502 

— X. Manners and Morals : Literature and Art . . . . 508 



BOOK VI. 

FIRST PERIOD OF CIVIL WARS. 

133. LI. Tiberius Gracchus 518 

133-129. LII. Return and death of Scipio the Younger . . . . 527 

128-121. LIII. Caius Gracchus and his times 533 

120-104. LIV. Jugurtha and his times 545 

105-101. LV, The Cimbrians and Teutons K^p 

103-101. Second Slave-War in Italy \°^^ 

100-91. LVL From the Sixth Consulship of Marius to the death 

of M. Livius Drusus 565 

90, 89. LVn. The Social War 575 

88-86. LVHL First Civil War ' . . . . 582 

88-84. LIX. First Mithridatic War 593 

83,82. LX. Return of Sylla : Second Civil War 601 

82-78. LXI. Sylla's Dictatorship and death 610 



CONTENTS. 



BOOK VII. 

SECOND PERIOD OP CIVIL WAE. 

B.C. Chap. Page 

78-TO. LXII. Eevolutionaiy attempt of Lepidus : Sertorius : 

Spartacus: Consulship of Pompey and Crassus 620 
14^61. LXIII. Third or Great Mithridatic "War : Pompey in the 

East 620 

69-61. LXIV. Prom Consulship of Pompey and Crassus to re- 
turn of Pompey from the East : Csesar: Cicero: 
Catiline 639 

62-58. LXV. Pompey's return: Pirst Triumvirate: Cesar's Con- 
sulship: Clodius 651 

58-50. LXVI. Cassar in Gaul : breach between Pompey and 

Csesar 661 

50-48. LXVII. Second Civil War death of Pompey GTS 

48-44. LXYIII. Absolute rule of Caesar . . GSt 

44-42. LXIX. Prom the death of Caesar to the battle of Philippi 103 
41-30. LXX. Prom the battle of Philippi to the final establish- 
ment of Imperial Monarchy '719 

— LXXI. State of the Empire : Literature, Art, Manners, 

and Religious feeling T31 

Index . . . . , 152 




Coin of Agrippa, with Iicad of Augustus on the reverse. 




€oin of M. xViitony, with head of Cffisar on the obverse. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Rome. — Bird's-eye View of the Forum from the Capitol 



FrOIsTISPIECE. 



Page 
Coin of Cffisar in 4tli Dictator- 
ship." V 

Coin of Agrippa, with head of 

Augustus on the reverse . . viii 
Coin of M. Antony, with head of 

Csesar on the obverse . . . . ix 

Coin with head of Janus . . . . s 
Medal commemoi'ative of the 

foundation of Rome . . . . 1 

Geological Hap of Italy . . . . 4, 5 

Ostia at the present day . . . . 13 

Wolf of the Capitol 21 

Lake of Alba 33 

Cloaca Maxima 38 

Map of Rome 52 

Plan of the City 54 

Cloaca of Marta in Tuscany . . 57 

Tomb of the Tarquins . . . . 58 

Bust of Niebuhr "70 

View of Campagna 19 

Geological Map of Country round 

Rome 85 

Lake of Nemi, looking over the 

Campagna 86 

Tarpeian Rock 95 

Coin bearing the Dioscuri . . . . 100 
Tivoli, looking over the Cam- 
pagna 101 

Castor and Pollux Ill 

Coin of P. Porcius Laeca, author 

of the Law of Appeal . . . . 123 

Emissary of Alban Lake . . . . 136 

Geese of the Capitol (?) . . . . 143 

As, with head of Janus . . . . 152 
Reverse of As, with Ship's 

prow 161 



Page 

M. Curtius 167 

Etruscan Walling 172 

Coin with Samnite Bull goring 

the Roman Wol^ struck in 

the Social War 177 

Roman soldiers 184 

Terracina 195 

Beneventum in Samnium . . . . 199 
Tomb of Scipio Barbatus . . . . 209 

Appian Way 216 

The Island of the Tiber . . . . 224 

Coin of Epidaurus 236 

Coin of Pyrrhus with head of 

Dodonean Zeus 237 

Brundusium 248 

Coin of Carthage, with Winged 

Horse 259 

Coin of a Livineius with head of 

Regulus 267 

Coin of Metellus Scipio, referring 

to Battle of Panormus . . . . 281 
Temple of Janus closed, on a 

Coin of Nero 282 

Lake Trasimene 296 

Plan illustrating the Battle of 

Lake Trasimene 306 

Head of MarceUus, on a Coin of 

Marcellinus 321 

Coin of an Acilius, with Tri- 
umphal Car 336 

L. Cornelius Scipio Africanus . . 350 

Lictors . . 369 

Sella Curulis 385 

Temple of Saturn 386 

Remains of Aqueduct at Rome 394 
Coin of Ptolemy Philadelphus . . 412 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Coin of Philip V,, King of Mace- 
don 

Coin of the Quinctian Gens, bear- 
ing the head of Plamininus . . 

Coin of Antiochus the Great . . 

Tomb of the Scipios, as restored 
by Canina 446 

Coin of Perseus 456 

Coin of Lepidus, representing 
PauUus triumphing over Per- 
seus and his CliUdren . . 

Coin of Attalus I 

Plan of Tyrian Carthage . . 

Tomb on the Appian 'Way 

Medallion of Terence 

Bust of Ennius 

The Forum from the Capitol 

Tomb on the Appian Way 

Walls of Rome, from the inside . 

Caius Marius 

Coin of the Eight Itahan Nations, 
joining in an Oath of Federa- 
tion, with the Legend Italia. . 

Coin of the Two AUied Nations 
who last held out, with the 
name of Papius in Oscan Cha- 
racters . , . . 581 



419 



431 
432 



466 
467 
485 
502 
508 
517 
518 
52'? 
533 
556 



575 



Pagb 

Coin of Mithridates VI 593 

Coin. — Temple of Jupiter on Capi- 
tol, and head of Jupiter . . 601 

Tomb near Alba 610 

Cn. Pompeius Magnus . . . . 629 
Slab from arch of Titus, repre- 
senting the Spoils of Jerusa- 
lem borne in triumph . . . . 638 

M. TuUius Cicero 639 

C. Julius Caesar 651 

Coin of Csesar 660 

Coin to commemorate Conquest 

of Gaul , . . . 661 

Parthian Coin 672 

Coin to commemorate the taking 

of Egypt 673 

M. Junius Brutus 687 

Coins struck upon the death of 

Ca3sar 702 

Coins of the Triumvirs . . • . . 703 
Fine Coin of Antony, executed 

at Antioch 718 

Antony and Cleopatra . . . . 719 
Figure Head of Roman GaUey, 

dredged up near Actium . . 7,^0 

Octavian 731 

M. Vipsanius Agrippa . . . . 751 




C!oin ivitli head of Janus. 



HISTORY OF ROME. 




INTRODUCTION. 



SECTION I. 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHT OF ITALY. 

§ 1. Relation of Italy to Roman History. § 2. Length of Italian Peninsula^ 
§ 3. Breadth. § 4. Extent of Surface. § 5. Reasons for considering 
Physical Structure. § 6. Division of Italy into two portions. § t. Physical 
Structure of upper portion : The Alps, or northern hmits of the valley of 
the Po. § 8. Upper Apennines, or southern limits of this vaUey. § 9. Plain 
of the Po itseE § 10. Physical Structure of lower portion of Apennine 
range. § 11. Its Southern flank. § 12. Northern flank. § 13. Deduction 
of geographical features of Italy from foregoing description : Pew prominent 
Headlands and large Gulfs. § 14. Few Islands. § 15. No large Rivers, 
'except in the valley of the Po. § 16. No large Plains, except in same 
valley. § IT. No large Lakes, except in same vaUey. Peculiar character 
of Lakes in many parts of sub-Apennine districts. § 18. Marshy character 
of some districts. Methods of reclaiming land in modern times. § 19. Cli- 
mate. § 20. Productions. § 21. Beauty of scenery. 

§ 1. The History of Rome is properly the history of a City, or 
rather a Civic Community, which gradually extended its imperial 
sway, first over all Italy, then over all the countries bordering 
upon the Mediterranean Sea. It was, according 'to the common 
reckoning, nearly five centuries before the citizens of Rome 
became lords of Lower Italy ;* in little more than another cen- 
* 753—270 3.0. 
1 



2 HISTORY OP ROME. Inteod. 

tury they had become the sovereign power of the civilised 
world.* It is difficult, therefore, in attempting a geographical 
sketch for the purpose of elucidating Roman History, to deter- 
mine where Ave ought to begin and Avhere to end. For during a 
long period w:e are hardly carried out of sight of the Capitol ; 
and at the close of that period we are hurried with startling 
rapidity into the heart of every country, from the Atlantic to 
the mountains of Asia Minor, from the ridges of the Alps to the 
plains that lie beneath Mount Atlas. But since the origin and 
composition of the people whom Ave call Romans depends upon 
the early state and population of Italy at large, and since in 
course of time all Italians became Romans, it Avill be well to 
follow the usual custom, and begin with a geographical sketch of 
the Italian Peninsula. 

§ 2. This Peninsula, the central one of the three which stretch 
boldly forward from the southern coasts of Europe, lies nearly 
between the parallels of north latitude 38° and 46°. Its length 
therefore, measured along a meridian arc, ought to be about 550 
miles. But since, unlike the other two Mediterranean Peninsulas, 
it runs in a direction nearly diagonal to the lines of latitude and 
longitude, its real length, measured from Mont Blanc to Cape 
Spartivento, is somewhat more than YOO miles. 

§ 3. To estimate the breadth of this long and singularly- 
shaped Peninsula, it may conveniently be divided into two 
parts by a line draAvn across from the mouths of the Po to the 
northern point of Etruria. Below this line the average breadth 
of the leg of Italy does not much exceed 100 miles. Above this 
line, both coasts trend rapidly outwards, so that the upper portion 
forms an irregularly-shaped figure, which lies across the top of 
the leg, being bounded on the north and west by the Alpine 
range from lUyria to the mouth of the Var, on the south by the 
imaginary line before drawn, and on the east by the head of the 
Adriatic Sea. The length of this figure from east to west is not 
less than 350 miles; while from north to south it measures, on 
the average, about 120 miles. 

§ 4. The SURFACE of the whole Peninsula, including both the 
leg of Italy and the irregular figure at the top, is estimated at 
about 90,000 square miles, or an area nearly equal to the surface 
of Great Britain and Ireland. 

But a very large proportion of this surface is unproductive, 
and a great part even incapable of tillage. 

§ 5. The reason of this diff"erence between the actual extent 
of the Peninsula and its productive surface is to be found in its 
PHYSICAL STRUCTURE, wliich IS SO remarkable as to invite an 
* 263—233 B.C. 



SBcrr. I. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OP ITALY. 3 

attempt .to describe it in the shortest and simplest manner com- 
patible Avith clearness. The Physical Geography of a country is 
indeed the key to a great portion of its History, and explains the 
very fact of its existence. For example, mountains which lift 
their heads above the v^^aves and storms form the indestructible 
core of some countries destined by Providence to play a large 
part in the history of the world, while others are spread out in 
broad and swelling plains equally indestructible. The hard lime- 
stone of the Apennine range has alone enabled the long and 
slender Italian Peninsula to be the cradle of those political, social, 
and ecclesiastical institutions which are inseparably attached to 
the name of Rome. If the masses thrown into that singular 
shape had been composed of soft or loose materials, they had 
been swept away by the joint action of wind and water, and the 
names of Italy and of Rome had been unknown. 

§ 6. For the purpose of description we must again divide 
Italy into two portions, as before, for the purpose of measure- 
ment.* The former portion consists of the enormous valley 
enclosed between the Alps on the north and the upper range of 
the Apennines on the south ; a valley which may be represented 
as an irregular triangle, having its base upon the Adriatic, and 
gradually thinning off towards the Maritime Alps. The latter 
portion is formed by that lower part of the Apennine range which 
runs down the whole leg of Italy. 

§ 7. In the former portion a gigantic ridge of Granite rocks 
has burst through the superincumbent formations, and sweeps 
in an irregular curve from the Tyrol to the Gulf of Genoa. On 
the southern flank of this Granite ridge reclines an enormous 
mass of the most Ancient Limestone, of that kind which has- 
been called the Jura Formation. Appearing first near the Lago 
Maggiore, it attains its greatest breadth between Verona and 
Belluno, and then again thins off towards the Tyrol. This 
Ancient Limestone dips towards the south, and disappears be- 
neath a thin and broken edge of the more Recent Limestone 
rocks, which are analogous to what is called the Chalk Formation 
in England and France, though in Italy the Chalk itself is nowhere 
found.f Thus, from the Lago Maggiore eastward, the great valley 
of the Po is skirted on the north by the two Limestone systems, 
with the Granite coming from beneath them. But westward, 
from the Lago Maggiore to the Maritime Alps, the Limestones 
disappear altogether, and the alluvial plain abuts upon the pri- 
maeval Granite itself. 

* In the map over the leaf the division is, by the requirement of the 
printer, made considerably lower down. 

f Creta is not chalk, but a tenacious white earth, much the same as argiUa. 



HISTORY OP ROME. 



Introd. 



10 



12 



14 



hi^^^'S^M^ 




GEOLOGICAL MAP 

OF 

ITALY, 



§ 8. The southern boundary of this great valley now remains 
to be examined. It is formed, as we have said, by the upper 
part of the Apennine range, which strikes nearly across Italy 
from above Genoa to the sources of the Rubicon and the Tiber. 
From beneath the southern edge of the alluvial plain first appears 
a band of the Tertiary rocks, which hardly show themselves on 
its northern edge. From below them again emerges in immense 
proportions the more Recent Limestone, which here covers the 
Jura formation, and forms the entire surface of that part of the 
Apennines. The Granite, unable to burst its way through, has 
contented itself with upheaving the superincumbent mass of 
Limestone, while the Tertiary strata have been broken up and 
almost swept away. 

§ 9, In the vast sweeping hollow or basin embraced by the north- 
ern and southern elevation of the Limestone mountains, that is, 
in the space between the Alps and Apennines, lies the great allu- 



Sect. I. 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OP ITALY. 



vial plain formed by the atoms washed down through all time by 
the thousand streams which descend from the Alps upon the 
north and Avest, and from the Apennines on the south, all at 
length combining their waters in the mighty stream of the Eri- 
danus. These waters, charged with particles of every kind of 
rock through which they flow, from the Granite to the Tertiary, 
form a soil hardly equalled in the world for natural richness. 
Near the mountains, indeed, where the streams descend from the 
gorges, the whole surface is often covered with barren gravel; 
especially on the Apennine side, where the mountains are nearer 
and the descent more rapid. But as we advance into the centre 
of the plain, the gravel becomes finer and finer, till at length 
nothing is left but that fine and impalpable garden mould, which 
appears probably in the greatest perfection in the fertile district 
between Lodi and Cremona. 










55Swt*S: 



<A/e 



'«•♦> 






^M 



^ '*1> 

m. X 



%v^ 






§ 10. We now turn to the leg of 
Italy, which consists of the lower 
range of Apennines, Avith its manifold 
branches and ofi"shoots. Near the 
sources of the Rubicon and Tiber the 
more Recent Limestone has suflfered 
a violent disruption, and falls off right 
and left, so as to display a huge mass 
of the Ancient Limestone. The two 
formations, the Ancient flanked on 
both sides by the more Recent, edged 
by narrow bands of Tertiary remains, continue their courss 
flowing down the leg of Italy, gradually inclining towards the 



6 HISTORY OP ROME. Introd. 

instep,* till at tlie point where the gulf of Tarentuna threatens 
to penetrate to the Sicilian sea, the wild country of the Bruttii 
rises in primaeval Granite, 

§ 11. A line drawn from Ancona to Cape Argentaro gives the 
greatest breadth of these Limestone formations; and a little 
lower down, a fragment of the more Recent kind, left like an 
island upon the uplifted shoulders of the Ancient, presents the 
loftiest mountain of the Apennine range, Monte Corno or the Gran 
Sasso d'ltalia, which attains an elevation of nearly 10,000 English 
feet. On the southern coast, from above the lake of Bolsena in 
Tuscany to the beautiful bay of Salerno, the regular geological 
series is broken up by a large tract of comparatively recent Vol- 
canic country, which is interrupted between Latium and Cam- 
pania by Ancient Limestone hills. 

§ 12. On the northern flank of the Limestone range appears a 
belt of Tertiary formation, which spreads out wider, as the Lime- 
stone inclines towards the south, till it attains its greatest 
breadth along the western and northern sides of the gulf of 
Tarentum. But the Limestone formations, after sinking towards 
the Adriatic, again appear in the isolated eminence of Mount 
Garganus, the spur of Italy, and along the heel from Canusium 
to the lapygian headland. 

§ 13. This description of the physical structure of the Italian 
Peninsula will enable us to comprehend, by a very brief glance, its 
chief GEOGRAPHICAL fcaturcs. Deep gulfs and inlets are not to 
be expected; for these are only found when mountain chains jut 
out into the sea, and maintain themselves as headlands, while 
the lower land between is eaten and washed away by the cease- 
less action of the waves. Such phenomena are presented by 
Greece, and by the western coasts of Scotland, Wales, and Ire- 
land. But in' Italy there is but one uniform mountain-chain. 
On the northern or Adriatic • slope of the Apennines, indeed, a 
number of gorges open to the sea in a direction transverse to 
the main line of the mountains. But the projecting spurs Avhich 
form these gorges are not considerable in height ; and on the 
southern or Mediterranean side the main range sinks towards 
the sea in subordinate or secondary ranges, more or less parallel 
to the principal chain, and therefore seldom admitting of abrupt 
headlands with deep embrasures between. There is, however, one 
exception which proves the rule. We have above shown that at 
the foot of Italy, the Limestone range forks oft' into two great 
branches, one running towards the toe of the Peninsula, the other 

* There is, however, one complete gap or severance in the chain^ which is 
nearly marked by a hne drawn from Capua to Venusia 



Sect. I. . PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF ITALY. 7 

forming the heel. The softer Tertiary formations between 
these two ranges have fallen a prey to the devouring waves. 
Here they have scooped out the great gulf of Tarentum, a 
vast expanse of sea, measuring from point to point no less than 
SO miles. 

But except this great gulf, the coasts of the Peninsula are 
indented by comparatively gentle curves. On the northern side 
the single inequality is presented by the projecting mass of 
Mount Garganus, which forms with the lower coast what is now 
called the bay of Manfredonia. On the sole of the foot, below 
the gulf of Tarentum, we find the bay of Squillace (Sinus Scyla- 
cius). After passing the straits of Messina, first occurs the bay 
of St. Eufemia (Sinus Vibonensis), which is separated from that 
of Squillace by a mass of granitic rocks less than twenty miles in 
breadth. A little higher up we come to a wide sweep in the 
coast, known by the name of the bay of Policastro. 

That part of the southern coast which is most irregular deserves 
particular attention from the student of Eoman History. Be- 
tween the point where ancient Lucania borders on Campania, 
and that at which Latium begins, a distance of about 120 miles, 
the coast-line is broken into three fine bays, the bay of Psestum, 
or Salerno on the south, the bay of Gaeta on the north, and be- 
tween them the smallest but most famous and most beautiful of 
the three — the bay of Cuma or Naples. From Cape Circello 
(Circeii), which forms the northern horn of the bay of Gaeta, the 
coast-line runs onward to Genoa, unbroken save by the headlands 
of Argentaro and Piombino in Tuscany. But these do not project 
far enough to form any recess worthy to be named. Nor is the 
little bay of Spezzia, just north of Tuscany, deserving of mention 
as a geographical feature. 

§ 14. The same circumstance which prevents Italy from 
abounding in deep bays and bold headlands, also prevents its 
coasts from being studded with islands, which are but relics of 
projecting mountain- chains. If we omit Sicily, which is in fact 
a continuation of the Peninsula separated by a channel of two or 
three miles broad, and the Lipari islands, which are due to the 
volcanic action still at work beneath Etna and Vesuvius, the 
islands of Italy are insignificant. Caprese (Capri) on the one 
hand, Prochyta (Procida) and Ischia on the other, are but frag- 
ments of the two headlands that form the bay of Naples. Igilium 
(Giglio) and Ilva (Elba) stand in a similar relation to the head- 
lands of Argentaro and Piombino. Besides these may be named 
Pontise (Ponza), Pandataria, with a few more barren rocks ofi" the 
bay of Gaeta, and a few even less important on the coast of 
Tuscany. 



8 HISTORY OP ROME. . Inteod, 

§ 15. Except in Northern Italy, whicli abounds in noble rivers, 
as above described, the narrowness of the Peninsula forbids the 
existence of really large streams. Yet the Apennine range, which 
forms on its southern side long parallel valleys, enables numerous 
torrents and rills which descend towards the south to swell into 
rivers of not inconsiderable size. Such especially are the Arno and 
Tiber, which rise nearly at the point where the ancient limestone 
breaks through the more modern. Their waters are separated 
by the hills which terminate in the headlands of Argentaro 
and Piombino, so that the Arno flows northward, and enters 
the sea on the northern frontier of' Tuscany, after a course of 
about 120 miles ; while the Tiber runs in a general southerly 
direction, receiving the waters of the Clanis from the west, and 
those of the Nar (Nera) and Velinus from the east, till its course 
is abruptly turned by the Sabine limestone hills. The entire 
length of its channel is about 180 miles. These two well-known 
rivers, with their affluents, drain the whole of Etruria, the Sabine 
country, and the Campagna of Rome. 

Similar in their course, but on a smaller scale, are the Anio, 
(Teverone) and the Liris. They both rise in the ^quian hills, 
the Anio flowing northward to swell the stream of the Tiber a 
little above Rome : the Liris, joined by the Trerus (Sacco) from 
the west, running southward so as to drain southern Latium and 
Northern Campania, till it turns abruptly towards the sea, and 
enters it about the middle of the bay of Gaeta, after a course of 
about 80 miles. 

The Vulturnus and the Calor run down opposite valleys from 
the north and south of the Samnite territory, till they join their 
streams on the frontier of Campania, and fall into the bay of 
Gaeta only a -short distance below the Liris. Each of these 
streams measure from their sources to their united mouth not 
less than 100 miles. 

The only other notable river on the southern coast is the 
Silarus (Sele), which descends by a channel of about 60 miles 
from the central Apennines of Lucania into the bay of Passtum 
or Salerno. After this comes the foot of Italy, in which the 
mountains come down so close to the sea that from the rnouth 
of the Silarus down to the lower angle of the gulf of Tarentum, 
the streams are but short and rapid torrents. Of these it is said 
that no less than eighty may be enumerated between Psestum 
and the straits of Messina. 

The gulf of Tarentum in its middle portion is skirted by a 
lower tertiary bed, and has some streams of importance. The 
Bradanus and Casuentus (Basento) enter the gulf within four 
miles of each other, after a course of about 60 miles. The Aciris 



Sect. I. PHTSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF ITALY. g 

(Agri) is to the south of these. The Siris (Siiino) notable as 
the scene of the first battle between Pyrrhns and the Eomans, is 
a mere torrent, as is the Galesus upon which Tarentum stands. 

The northern or Adriatic coast is almost devoid of lateral 
valleys, such as are found on the other coast, and therefore has 
few considerable streams. The Aufidus (Ofanto) in Apulia, re- 
nowned in Roman historj^, from the fact that the fatal battle of 
CanniB took place upon its banks, rises on the opposite side of the 
same range as the Calor, and runs a course of about 80 miles. 
The Sagrus (Sangro) stands in the same relation to the Vulturnus, 
and conveys the waters of the Fucine lake from the -.^quian 
hills through Samnium, by a nearly similar length of channel. 
But the largest river of this side is the Aternus, which finds its 
way from the Sabine hills into a short valley parallel to the 
main range, and thus prolongs its course. It is joined by a 
number of smaller streams, and attains a considerable volume of 
water before it reaches the sea at the point where the Marru- 
cinian coast abuts on that of Picenum. 

The whole coast from Mount Garganus northward is ploughed 
by numberless torrents which descend in rapid course down 
steep mountain gorges. Of these we need but name the ^sis 
between Picenum and Umbria ; the Metaurus, in Umbria, famous 
for the defeat of Hasdrubal ; the Rubicon, which formed the 
boundary of Roman Italy on the northern side, as did the Macra 
(Magra) on the opposite coast. 

§ 16. The limestone mountain track that occupies the whole 
narrow Peninsula from the great valley of the Po downwards is 
often too steep, bare, and rugged, to be capable of cultivation. 
There are, however, many rich plains of limited extent, among 
which Campania ranks first ; and many narrow but fertile valleys, 
in which nature rewards the smallest labour with bountiful 
returns. In the continental dominions of the modern kingdom 
of Naples, consisting of about half the leg of Italy, it is calcu- 
lated that little more than one half of the land is at present under 
cultivation. In the Estates of the Church, and on the sea-coast 
of Tuscany, the proportion is even less. 

§ 17. In speaking of Lakes, we must resume our twofold divi- 
sion of the Peninsula. On the Alpine slopes of the great valley 
of the Po, the Granitic and Ancient Limestone rocks break into 
vast chasms at right angles to their general direction, in which 
the waters of the rivers that fiow downwards to join the Po 
accumulate and form those lakes so well known to all lovers of 
natural beauty. Such are the lake Benacus (Lago di Garda) 
formed by the waters of the Mincius, Larius (Lago di Como) by 
those of the Adda, Verbanus (Lago Maggiore) by those of the 

1* 



10 HISTORY OF ROME. tnteod. 

Ticino, not to mention the lakes of Lugano, Orta, and others, 
smaller, but hardly less beautiful. 

But Apennine Italy, considering the great extent of its moun- 
tain districts, does not present many considerable lakes. Nor 
are these formed by the accumulated waters of rivers flowing 
through them, like the lakes of northern Italy or Switzerland. 
For the most part, like the lakes of Greece, they have no visible 
outlet, but lose their waters partly by evaporation, partly by 
underground fissures and channels. The Fucine lake in the 
^quian hills feeds the Sangro, and lake Bradanus in the south 
feeds the river of the same name. But the celebrated lake of 
Trasimene in Etruria, and the numerous lakes of the volcanic 
district, as the " great Volsinian Mere," the lakes of Alba, Nemi, 
Amsanctus, and others, have no visible outlet. These, in fact, 
are the craters of extinct volcanoes. Roman history contains 
legends which relate to the artificial tapping of some of these 
caldrons ; and some of the tunnels cut through their rocky basins 
still remain. 

§ 18. The abundance of water which is poured over the hills^ 
has a great disposition to accumulate in marshy swamps in 
the low districts towards the sea. Such is the case along the 
lower course of the Po, on the coast-lands of Tuscany, and in the 
lower part of the Campagna of Rome. Mantua, which stands a 
little above the junction of the Mincio with the Po, is surrounded 
by marshes ; and the whole coast between Venice and Ravenna 
is a swamp. 

To keep the Po and its tributaries within their channel, the 
Lombards of the Middle Ages raised embankments on either side 
of the stream. But the rivers being charged with mud are obliged 
by these embankments to deposit the whole within their chan- 
nels, and the quantity thus deposited is so great that it is neces- 
sary to raise these embankments continually; and thus in the 
course of centuries the bottoms of the rivers have been elevated 
considerably above the plains ; so that the streams of Lombardy 
in their lower course are in fact carried along huge earthen aque- 
ducts. In time, human industry will not be equal to raise these 
embankments in sufiicient strength, and a deluge will ensue more 
fearful than those which the poet of Mantua seems to have wit' 
nessed in his own time.* 

* " Non sic aggeribus ruptis, quum spumeus amnis 
Exiit, oppositasque evicit gurgite moles, 
Fertur in arvafurens cumulo, camposque per omnes 
Gum stabulis armenta tulit." 

ViRG-., Aen. ii. 496; cf. Georg. i. 322, sq. 
While this unskilful mode of preventing the overflowing of the Po was 



Sect. I. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF ITALY. 11 

§ 19. The Climate of Italy, like its physical structure, is ex- 
tremely different in the northern and in the southern part of the 
Peninsula. In the valley of the Po the winters are often extremely 
severe, so that towards the close of the last century all the olive- 
trees in that district were killed by the frost. On the south of 
the Apennines the climate is much milder in the winter, though 
in spring the winds are often very cold. Snow is rarely seen in 
the Campagna di Roma, or in the neighbourhood of Naples at 
the present day; though in the times of the ancients it seems 
to have been not uncommon. 

Italy is in general a healthy country. The men are active, 
vigorous, and well-grown ; the women, in their youth, handsome. 
Some parts, however, are afflicted by pestilential air (malaria), 
especially the lower part of Tuscany, and the Campagna di Roma, 
of which countries a more particular account will be found in a 
later page. Parts of Calabria also are extremely unhealthy, and 
all the southern side of the Apennines suffers from the south 
wind, called the Sirocco, which comes charged with suffocating 
heat from the plains of Africa. 

§ 20. The productions are those of the temperate zone in 
their highest perfection. Wherever there is a sufficiency of soil 
and water, as in the valleys leading to the .plain of Lombardy, 
or descending to the sea from either side of the Apennines, grain 
of all kinds is produced in great abundance. In ancient days, 
the plain of Lombardy, now so highly cultivated, was thickly 
covered with oak forests, that furnished food to countless 
herds of swine. Many parts of the Apennines are still well 
clothed with chestnut trees, and the inhabitants of the upland 
valleys live on their fruit during the winter. But modern 
ingenuity and industry have reclaimed many of these districts 
by the help of artificial irrigation.* On the southern slopes of 

followed in the nortb, a most mgenious method has been pursued in redeeming 
from the Arno those marshes in whicla Hannibal was attacked by ophthalmia, 
and lost part of his army. Tlie pliUosoplier Torricelli (about 1550 a.d.) 
suggested tliat the stream sliould be allowed freely to flood tlie surface within 
certain hmits, and to deposit witliin these limits its fertOizing mud. This 
experiment has been tried with signal success. Strong embankments are 
formed, with sluices and flood-gates, to admit the river at will over a conflned 
surface. Here all its deposit is spread ; and afl;er a number of years the 
pestilent marshes of the Upper Arno (the Val Chiana) have been raised by a 
depth of not less than eight feet of fertUe alluvial sod. "When one district 
had been raised, the same process was repeated with that next adjoining, and 
so the whole surface of the marshes has been raised. The same plan is now 
being pursued with the marshes formed by the Ombrone in the Maremma of 
Tuscany. 

* " The woods have been cleared, and a skUful system of irrigation imparts 
fertihty to the district. Not less than one-fifth of the whole productive area 



12 HISTOEY OF ROME. Inteod. 

the Apennines olives flourish ; and the vine is cultivated 
largely in all parts of the Peninsula, For this last purpose 
the sunny terraces of the limestone mountains are especially 
suited. But want of care in the treatment of the plant, or rather 
in the manufacture of the wine, makes the wines of Italy very 
inferior in quality to those of France or the Spanish Peninsula, 
though in ancient times the vineyards of northern- Campania 
enjoyed a high reputation. Every schoolboy knows the names 
of the Massic and Falernian hills, of the Calene and Formian 
vineyards. In the southern parts the date-palm is found in 
gardens, though this and other tropical plants are not natural to 
the climate, as they are in the south of the Spanish Peninsula, 
which lies about two degrees nearer to the region of the vertical 
sun. The plains of Apulia, where the tertiary strata sink to- 
Avards the gulf of Tarentum, were chiefly given up to pasturage — 
a custom which continues to the present day. This is connected 
with historical facts, to which we shall have to call attention 
hereafter. 

§ 21. The natural beauty of Italy is too well known to need 
many words here. The lovers of the sublime will find no more 
magnificent mountain-passes than those . which descend through 
the Alps to the plains of Lombardy. In the valley of the-Dctra 
Baltea, from its source under Mont Blanc to Aosta and Ivrea, 
all the grandeur of Switzerland is to be found, enriched by the 
colours and warmth of a southern sky; the cold green and gray of 
the central chain here passes into gold and purple. In the same 
district is found the most charming lake scenery in the world, 
where the sunny hills and warm hues of Italy are backed by 
the snowy range of the towering Alps. Those who jirefer rich 
culture may gratify their utmost desires in the lower vale of the 

of Lombardy is irrigated at the present day. But nearer the mountains, 
nearly all the land is watered; between the Ticino and the Adda not less than 
9-lOths; between the Adda and the Oglio, about 2-lOths; between the Oglio 
and the Adige, about l-Tth or l-8th." — Capt. Baird Smith's Irrig. of Italy, 
i. p. 205. 

This irrigation is almost entirely modern. The practice was known to 
antiquity, as appears from Virgil's well-knovni line (Eel. iii. 11): — 

" Claudite jam rivos, pueri, sat prata biberunt." 

But that it was rude appears from the beautiful description in Georg. i. 
106, sqq. ;— 

" Deinde satis fiuvium inducit, rivosque sequentes : 

Et quum exustus ager morientibus ffistuat herbis, 

Ecce supercilio clivosi tramitis undam 

Elicit : Ula cadens raucum per levia murmur 

Saxa ciet, scatebrisque arentia temperat arva." 
It may, indeed, be observed, that this description is partly borrowed from 
Iliad *. 257, sqq. 



Sect. I. 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OP ITALY. 



13 



Po about Lodi and Cremona, or across tlic Apennines in the 
valley of the Arno and in Campania. If we follow the southern 
coast, probably the world presents no lovelier passages than 
meet the traveller's eye as he skirts the Maritime Alps where 
they overhang the sea cornice-like, between Nice and Genoa; 
or below Campania, Avhere the limestone of the Apennines, 
broken by volcanic eruptions, strikes out into the sea between 
the bays of Naples and Salerno. The Romans, who became 
lords of all Italy and of the civilised world, sprung up in one 
of the least enviable portions of the whole Peninsula. The 
attractions of Modern Rome are less of nature than of associa- 
tion. The traveller would little care to linger on the banks of 
the Tiber, if it were stripped of its buildings and its history. 




Ostia at the present day. 



SECTION II. 

EARLY POPULATION OF ITALY." 

§ 1. Constant invasions of Italy, notwithstanding Alpine barrier. § 2. Its 
subdivision among numerous tribes. § 3. Signification of the name Italy 
in Roman times. § 4. Roman Italy occupied by at least six distinct races. 
§ 5. Pelasgians. § 6. Opicans or Oscans. § 7. Umbrians. § 8. Sabel- 
lians. § 9. Etruscans. § 10. Greeks. § 11. Romans a compound race. 
§ 12. Evidence of Tradition. § 13. Evidence of Language : — Roman language 
akin to the Greek in structure, being probably Pelagian, mixed with Oscan, 
with Sabine vocabulary added. § 14. Comparison between Romans and 
Enghsh in respect to origia. § 15. Sources of early Roman History. 

§ 1. It is a common remark, that mountains are the chief 
boundaries of countries, and that races of men are found in their 
purest state when they are separated by these barriers from ad- 
mixture with other tribes. Italy forms an exception to this rule. 
It was not so much the " fatal gift of beauty," of which the poet 
speaks,* as the richness of its northern plain, that attracted suc- 
cessive tribes of invaders over the Alps. From the earliest dawn 
of historic knowledge, we hear of one tribe after another sweep- 
ing like waves over the Peninsula, each forcing its predecessor on- 
ward, till there arose a power strong enough to drive back the 
current, and bar aggression for many an age. This power was 
the Roman Empire, which forced the Gauls to remain on the 
northern side of the Apennines, and preserved Italy untouched 
by the foot of the foreigner for centuries. No sooner was this 
power weakened, than the incursions again began ; and at the 
present day the fairest provinces of the Peninsula are subject to 
foreign rule. 

§ 2. But if the northern barriers of the Peninsula- failed to 
check the lust of invaders, its long straggling shape intersected 
by mountains from top to bottom, materially assisted in break- 
ing it up into a number of different nations. Except during the 
strength of the Eoman Empire Italy has always been parcelled 
out into a number of small states." In the earliest times it was 
shared among a number of tribes differing in race and language. 
Great pains have been taken to investigate the origin and 
character of these primaeval nations. But the success has not 
been great, and it is not our purpose to dwell • on intricate ques- 

* The stanzas of Filicaja are well known from their version in Childe Harold, 
"Italia, oh Italia! would thou wert less lovely, or more powerful," &c. 



Sect. IL EARLY POPULATION OF ITALY. 15 

tions of this kind. We will liere only give results so far as they 
seem to be established. 

§ 3. It is "well known that it was not till the close of the Re- 
public, or rather the beginning of the Empire, that the name of 
Italy was employed, as we now employ it, to designate the whole 
Peninsula, from the Alps to the straits of Messina. The term 
Italia, borrowed from the name of a primaeval tribe who occupied 
the southern portion of the land, was gradually adopted as a 
generic title in the same obscure manner in which most of the 
countries of Europe, or (we might say) the Continents of the world 
have received their appellations. In the remotest times the name 
only included Lower Calabria :* from these narrow limits it grad- 
ually spread upwards, till about the time of the Punic Wars, its 
northern boundary ascended the little river Rubicon (between 
Umbria and Cisalpine Gaul), then followed the ridge of the Apen- 
nines westward to the source of the Macra, and was carried down 
the bed of that small stream to the Gulf of Genoa. 

When we speak of Italy, therefore, in the Roman sense of the 
word, we must dismiss from our thoughts all that fertile country 
which was at Rome entitled the provincial district of Gallia Cis- 
alpina and Liguria, and which was nearly equivalent to the terri- 
tory now subject to the crowns of Sardinia and Austria, with the 
Duchies of Parma and Modena, and the upper portion of the 
States of the Church. It will be seen that this political division 
nearly coincides with the physical divisions noticed in the fore- 
going chapter. 

§ 4. But under Roman rule even this narrower Italy wanted 
that unity of race and language which, in spite of political sever- 
ance, we are accustomed to attribute to the name. Within the 
boundaries just indicated there were at least six distinct races, 
some no doubt more widely separated, but all marked by strong 
national characteristics. These were the Pelasgians, the Oscans, 
the Sabellians, the Umbrians, the Etrurians, and the Greeks, 

§ 5. It is certain that in primitive times the coasts and lower 
valleys of Italy were peopled by tribes that had crossed over 
from the opposite shores of Greece and Epirus. These tribes 
belonged to that ancient stock called the Pelasgian, of which so 
much has been written and so little is known. The names that 
remained in Southern Italy were all of a Pelasgian or half-Hellenic 
character. Such were, in the heel of Italy, the Daunians and 
Peucetians (reputed to be of Arcadian origin), the Messapians and 
Sallentines ; to the south of the Gulf of Tarentum, the Chaonians 
(who are also found in Epirus) ; and in the toe the GEnotrians, who 

* Properly only the toe of Italy, from the Bay of Squillace to that of 
S. Eufemia (the Sinus Scylacius to the S. Lameticus), Arist. Polit vii. 10- 



16 HISTORY OF EOME. Inteod. 

once gave name to all Southern Italy.* Such also were the 
Siculians and other tribes along the coast from Etruria to Cam" 
pania, who were driven out by the invading Oscan and Sabellian 
nations.! 

§ 6. The Oscan or Opican race was at one time very widely 
spread over the south. The Auruncans of Lower Latium belonged 
to this race, as also the Ausonians, who once gave name to Cen- 
tral Italy,! and probably also the Volscians and the -^quians. In 
Campania the Oscan language was preserved to a late period in 
Roman History, and inscriptions still remain which can be inter- 
preted by those familiar with Latin. 

§ 7. The Umbrians at one time possessed dominion over great 
part of Central Italy. Inscriptions in their language also remain, 
and manifestly show that they spoke a tongue not alien to the 
Latin. The irruption of the Sabellian and of the Etruscan nations 
was probably the cause which broke the power of the Umbrians, 
and drove them back to a scanty territory between the -^sis, the 
Rubicon, and the Tiber. 

§ 8. The greatest of the Italian nations was the Sabellian. Un- 
der this name we include the Sabines, who are said by tradition 
to have been the progenitors of the whole race, the Samnites, 
the Picenians, Vestinians, Marsians, Marrucinians, Pelignians, and 
Frentanians. This race seems to have been naturally given to a 
pastoral life, and therefore fixed their early settlements in the 
upland valleys of the Apennines. Pushing gradually along 
this central range, they penetrated downwards towards the 
Gulf of Tarentum ; and as their population became too dense 
to find support in their native hills, bands of Avarrior youths 
issued forth to settle in the richer plains below. Thus they 
mingled with the Opican and Pelasgian races of the south, and 
formed new tribes, known by the names of Apulians, Lucanians, 
and Campanians. These more recent tribes, in turn, threatened 
the great Greek colonies on the coast, of which we shall speak 
presently. 

§ 9. We now come to the Etruscans, the most singular people 
.of the Peninsula. This people called themselves Rasena, or 
Rasenna — a name that reminds us of the Etruscan surnames 
Porsenna, Vibenna, Sisenna. At one time they possessed not 

* " Terra antiqua, potens armis atque ubere glebse ; 

CEnotri coluere viri : nunc fama minores 
Italiam dixisse ducis de nomine gentem." — ^ViRG., Aen. i. 532. 
f For a clear and intelligible account of the Pelasgians, see Dr. Smith's 
Hist, of Greece, p. 14. 

X Virgil, &c. Aristotle (Politic, vii. 10) says that the Opicans were for- 
merly called Ausonea. 



Sect. II. EARLY POPULATIOISr OP ITALY. lY 

only the country known to tlic Romans as Eti'uria (that is, the 
country bounded by the Macra, the central Apennine ridge, and 
the Tiber), but also occupied a large portion of Liguria and Cis- 
alpine Gaul ;* and perhaps they had settlements in Campania.f 
In early times they possessed a powerful navy, and in the ptimi- 
tive Greek legends they are represented as infesting the Mediter- 
ranean with their piratical galleys.| They seem to have been 
driven out of their Trans-Apennine possession by early invasions 
of the Gauls ; and their naval power never recovered the blow 
which it received in the year 480 B.C., when Gelo King of Syra- 
cuse defeated their navy, combined with that of Carthage, on the 
same day on which the battle of Salamis crippled the power of 
Persia. 

But who this people were, or whence they came, baffles con- 
jecture. It may be assumed as certain, that the Pelasgic settlers 
came in by sea from the western coasts of Epirus, which are 
distant from Italy less than fifty miles ; and that the Opican, Um- 
brian, and Sabellian • races came in from the north by land. But 
with respect to the Etruscans all is doubtful. One well-known 
legend represents them as Lydians, who fled by sea from Asia 
Minor to avoid the terrible presence of famine. Another indi- 
cates that they came down over the Alps, and the origin of their 
name Rasena is traced in Raetia. On the former supposition, 
Etruria was their earliest settlement, and, pushing northward, 
they conquered the plain of the Po ; on the latter, they first took 
possession of this fertile plain, and then spread southward over the 
Apennines. 

Their language, if it could be interpreted, might help to solve 
the riddle. But though we have numerous inscriptions in their 
tombs, though the characters in which these inscriptions are writ- 
ten bear close affinity to the letters of the Greek and Roman alpha- 
bets, the tongue of this remarkable people has as yet baffled the 
deftest eff"orts of philology. 

§ 10. Of the Greek settlements that studded the coast of 
Lower Italy, and gave to that district the name of Magna 

* AUusion is made to this in Virgil (Aen. x. 198-206) wliere tlie Etruscan 
chief Ocnus, the son of Manto, is said to have founded Mantua ("muros ma- 
trisque dedit tibi, Mantua, nomen"), and to have brought his troops from the 
Lago di G-arda : — 

" Quos patre Benaco velatus arundine glauca 
ilincius infesta ducebat in sequora pinu." 

■}• Capua, according to tradition, was named from Capjs, an Etruscan 
chief. 

X See the pretty Hymn to Dionysos, attributed to Homer, in which Etruscan 
pirates take the god prisoner, and are punished in a strange fashion for their 
audacity. 



18 HISTORY OP EOME. Introd-, 

Graecia, little need here be said. They were not planted till after 
the foundation of Rome. Many of them, indeed, attained to 
great power and splendour ; and the native Osco-Pelasgian popu- 
lation of the south became their subjects or their serfs. Sybaris 
alon^ in the course of two centuries, is said to have become mis- 
tress of four nations and twenty-five towns, and to have been able 
to raise a civic force of 300,000 men. Croton, her rival, was even 
larger.* Greek cities appear as far .north as Campania, where 
Naples still preserves in a corrupt form her Hellenic name, 
Neapolis. The Greek remains' discovered at Canusium (Canosi) 
in the heart of Apulia, attest the extent of Hellenic dominion. 
But the Greeks seem to have held aloof from mixture with the 
native Italians, whom they considered as barbarians. Rome is not 
mentioned by any Greek writer before the time of Aristotle (about 
340 B.C.) 

§ 11. From the foregoing sketch it will appear that Latium 
formed a kind of focus, in which all the different races that in past 
centuries had been thronging into Italy converged. The Etrus- 
cans bordered on Latium to the west ; the Sabines, with the Um- 
brians behind them, to the north ; the ^quians and Volscians, 
Oscan tribes, to the north-east and east ; while Pelasgian com- 
munities are to be traced upon the coast-lands. We should then 
expect beforehand to meet with a people formed by a commixture 
of divers tribes ; and this expectation is confirmed both by ancient 
Tradition and by the investigations of modern scholars into the 
construction of the Latin Language. 

§ 12. Tradition tells us that the Aborigines of Latium mingled 
in early times with a people calling themselves Siculians ; that 
these Siculians, being conquered and partly expelled from Italy, 
took refuge in the island, which was afterwards called Sicily from 
them, but was at that time peopled by a tribe named Sicanians ; 
that the conquering people were named Sacranians, and had them- 
selves been forced down from the Sabine valleys in the neighbour- 
hood of Reate by Sabellian invaders ; and that from this mixture 
of Aborigines, Siculians, and Sacranians arose the people known 
afterwards by the name of Latins. 

Where all is uncertain, conjecture is easy. It might be alleged 
that the Aborigines and Siculians, both of them, or at least the 
latter, were Pelasgians, and that the Sacranians were Oscan. All 
such conjectures must remain unproved. But they all bear wit- 
ness to the compound nature of the Latin nation. 

§ 13. An examination of Language leads us a little further. 

(1.) The Latin language contains a very large number of words 

* See more in Dr. Smith's History of Greece, pp. 120-123. 



Sect. II. EARLY POPULATION OP ITALY. 19 

closely resembling tlie Greek ; and, what is particularly to be 
observed, the grammatical inflexion of the nouns and verbs, 
Avith all that may be called the framework of the language, 
closely resembles that ancient dialect of the Hellenic called 
^olic. But it is not to be supposed that these roots and forms 
were borrowed from the Greek ; for these same roots and fomis 
are found in Sanscrit, the ancient language of India. In many 
of its forms, indeed, Latin more nearly resembles Sanscrit than 
Greek. It must be inferred, then, that these languages all 
branched oif from one stock. And it may be affirmed that the 
form under which this original language first appeared in Latium 
was Pelasgian or half-Hellenic. 

(2.) Though the framework and a large portion of the vocabu- 
lary resembles the Greek, there is also a large portion which is 
totally foreign to the Greek. This foreign element Avas certainly 
not Etruscan ; for if so, we should find many Avords in the 
Etruscan inscriptions agreeing with words in Latin ; whereas, in 
fact, we find hardly any. But in the Oscan inscriptions we find 
words much resembling the Greek; and it maybe inferred that 
the Oscan races had so largely blended with the Pelasgian, that 
the original Latin tongue Avas a mixture of the two. 

(3.) It is certain that the nation we call Roman was more than 
half Sabellian. Traditional history, as we shall see, attributes 
the conquest of Rome to a Sabine tribe. Some of her kings 
were Sabine ; the name borne by her citizens Avas Sabine ; 
her religion was Sabine ; most of her institutions in war and 
peace Avere Sabine ; and therefore it may be concluded that the 
language of the Roman people diff"ered from that of Latium 
Proper by its Sabine elements, though this difference died out 
again as the Latin communities were gradually absorbed into the 
territory of Rome. 

§ 14. This, then, is the summary of Avhat we know. Tradition 
represents Italy as peopled by a number of diff"erent races, and 
Rome as partaking more or less of the peculiarities of each race. 
Philology confirms this representation, and attempts to establish 
some definite relations betAveen these races. The result is 
meagre, because the materials for a judgment are meagre. But it 
is at least certain, that the Roman people and its language were 
formed by a composition almost as manifold and heterogeneous 
as the people and language of England. The original Celtic 
population of our island gave Avay before the mixed Saxon, 
Anglian, and Danish tribes, which poured into it from the north. 
Anglo-Saxon, not without a dash of Celtic, became the common 
language of the people. Norman conquerors, Danes by origin, and 
Frenchmen by habit, gradually adopted the language of the con- 



20 HISTORY OP ROME. Introd. 

quered people, infusing into it a large vocabulary of French or 
rather Latin terms ; but still the grammatical structure, the bone 
and sinew of the language, remained and remains Anglo-Saxon. 
So in Latium, it may be assumed, that the original inhabitants, a 
mixture of Pelasgians and Oscans, spoke a tongue which was the 
parent of the later Latin ; that the Sabine conquerors of Rome 
gradually adopted this Latin language, infusing into it a large 
vocabulary of their own. Other infusions may have occurred, 
both before and after ; but the organic structure still remained 
the same, and is identified with the structure of the Greek and its 
kindred tongues. 

§ 15. W&will now pass on to the Legends, in which is preserved 
the early History of Rome, reserving for a later page all attempts 
to estimate how far these Legends are mere fictions, and how far 
they may be regarded as actual events. It may be observed that 
no people is so rich in legendary history as the Romans. Their 
patriotic pride preserved the stories of their ancestors from gene- 
ration to generation, till they were, so to say, embalmed by poets 
who lived in the times of the Punic wars. These poems, indeed, 
have, with the exception of a few fragments, perished ; but we 
learn from Cicero how highly they were esteemed in his day, and 
in the epic poem of Virgil, with the scarcely less poetic prose of 
Livy's early history, they still live. From these great writers 
chiefly are derived those famous Legends, which are now to be 
recounted for the hundredth time. 




Wolf of the Capitol. 

BOOK I. 

HOME UNDER THE KINGS. 



CHAPTER I. 

ORIGIN OF ROME : ROMULUS AND NUMA. 

§ 1. Belief of the Eomans that they were sprung from the East. § 2. Legend 
of ^neas. § 3. Legend of Ascanius. §. 4. Legend of Rea Silvia, and 
birth of the Twins. § 5. Legend of recognition of Twins by Numitor. 
§ 6. Legend of the quarrel of Romulus and Remus. Variations in 
Legends. § 7. Romulus founds Rome. Uncertainty of dates. § 8. Asylum. 
Rape of Sabines. § 9. "War with Sabmes. Legends of Tarpeia, of Janus, 
of Sabine women. § 10. Peace between Romans and Sabines. Romultjs 
AND Titus Tatius joint Kings. § 11. Legend of Cseles Vibenna and 
Etruscan settlers at Rome. Eour of Seven HiUs now occupied. § 12. 
Death of Titus Tatius, Reign and death of Romulus. § 13. Institutions 
attributed to Romulus: (1) Social; (2) PoHtical; (3) Military. § 14. 
Interregnum : Numa Pompilius, a Sabine, second king of Rome. § 15. 
Rehgious institutions attributed to Numa. § 16. His love of agriculture. 
§ It. Other institutions. 

§ 1. It was the pride of the Eomans to believe that they were 
descended from the ancient nations to the East of the Mediter- 



22 "EOME UNDER THE KINGS. Book L 

ranean Sea. All their early legends point to Greece and Troy. 
How far the Pelasgian origin of tlie nation may account for this 
belief may be conjectured, but cannot be determined. It may, 
however, be assumed that the Arcadian Evander and his followers, 
whom the legends represent as the first settlers on the Palatine 
Hill, were Pelasgians ; and it is more than probable that the 
Trojan ^neas and his followers, who are believed to have 
coalesced with the Arcadians of the Palatine, were likewise 
Pelasgians, With this preface we proceed to the Legends 
themselves. 

§ 2. Virgil has told the tale of the flight of ^neas, and every 
one knows how he escaped from the flames of Troy bearing his 
father Anchises on his shoulders, and leading his boy Ascanius by 
the hand to seek a new home in Hesperia, the Land of Promise 
in the West. His piety or reverential affection* was not confined 
to his own family. He rescued also the gods of his father's house- 
hold from the flames, and he was rewarded by the favour of Hea- 
ven. Mercury or Hermes guided his steps from the burning city ; 
the star of his mother Venus led him safely to the shores of the 
western land. 

Nor did the protection of the gods desert him when he had 
reached the long-sought shores of Italy. Omens and signs told 
him that he had reached the promised land, and that Latium was 
to be the cradle of the new people which was to spring from the 
loins of the Trojan settlers. A white sow farrowed on the coast, 
and gave birth to the prodigious number of thirty young. 

But before the Trojans could obtain a fixed settlement, it was 
needful to come to terms with the people of the country. These 
were the Aborigines or children of the soil.f Their King's name 
was Latinus, and their chief city Laurentum. They treated the 
new comers kindly, and Latinus gave his daughter Lavinia in 
marriage to ^neas, who therefore gave to the town which he 
built on the spot where the white sow had farrowed the name of 
Lavinium. 

This agreement, however, had not come to pass without blood- 
shed. Lavinia had been betrothed to Turnus, the young chief 
of the Rutulians of Ardea. He, wrathful with disappointment, 
made war upon the strangers. -i^Cneas sought the aid of Evander 
the Arcadian, who had founded a city on the Palatine Hill, which 
afterwards became Rome ; he was also befriended by the Etruscans 
of Csere, who had revolted against their barbarous chief Mezen- 
tius, " the despiser of the gods." The Trojans prevailed, and 

* Lat. pieias, a feeling of reverence and love towards parents and gods. 
f Some authors spell the word Aberrigines, as if from dberro, to wander 
away. 



Chap. I. EOMULUS. 23 

Turnus fell. But tliree years after a new war arose ;* and JEneas 
disappeared amid the waters of tlie Numicius, a small river be- 
tween Lavinimn and Ardea. It was said that the gods had 
taken him, and a temple was raised to him on the spot, in which 
he was worshipped under the name of Jupiter Indiges, or the 
" God of the countr)^"f 

§ 3. Ascanius, who was also called liilus, from the youthful 
down "l upon his cheeks, was warned by signs from Heaven that 
Lavinium was not to be the abiding place of the new people. 
After thirfy years, therefore, as foretokened by the sign of the 
thirty young swine, he removed to the ridge of a hill about fifteen 
miles to the south-east of Eome, and here he built a new city, 
which was afterwards famous under the name of Alba Longa, or 
"the Long White City."|| In time this city became the capital of 
Latium, and all the Latin tribes came up to worship at the Tem- 
ple of Jupiter Latiaris on the top of the Alban Mount. Their 
chiefs also used to meet for the discussion of matters of state in 
the sacred grove by the spring of Ferentina on the side of the 
same mount. 

Ascanius was succeeded by a son of JEneas and Lavinia, named 
Silvius,^ and the eleven Kings of Alba who succeeded all bore 
the surname of Silvius. 

§ 4. The last of these Kings, named Procas, left two sons, Nu- 
mitor and Amulius. Amulius, the younger, seized the inheritance 
of his elder brother Numitor, who coveted not the crown. But 
he had a son and a daughter, who might hereafter be troublesome 
to the usurper. The son was put to death by Amulius; the 
daughter, Rea Silvia by name,** was dedicated to the service of 

* " Bellum ingens geret Italia, populosque feroces 

Contundet, moresque viris et moenia ponet, 
Tertia dum Latio regnantem viderit «stas, 

TernaquQ transierint Rutulis hiberna subactis." — ^Yirg., Aen. i. 263. 
•)• Hence VirgQ {Aen. vii. 242) speaks of vada sacra Numici, although he 
ends his poem with the death of Turnus. 

:|: lovXo^. Here, as in many other of the Eoman legends, Greek influence 
03 discernible. 

II "At puer Ascanius, cut nunc cognomen Itilo, 
Triginta magnos volvendis mensibus orbes 
Imperio explebit, regnumque ab sede Lavini 
Transferet, et Longam multa vi muniet Albam." — VrnG., Aen. i. 271. 

If " Primus ad auras 

-^therias Halo commixtus sanguine surgit 

Silvius, Albanum nomen, tua postuma proles." — Aen. vi. TGI. 

* * She is commonly confounded with Ilia. But Iha was a daughter of 
JEneas ; and here we recognise a double legend, — one in which the vestal 
priestess was sister of Itilus, one in which she was twelve generations in 
descent from him- 



24 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. 

Vesta, which compelled lier to live and die unwedded. But 
destiny is stronger than the will of man. The sacred Virgin of 
Vesta was found to be with child by the god Mars, and she bore 
two boys at a birth. The punishment of a vestal virgin for incon- 
tinence was dreadful : the law ordained that she should be buried 
alive. Amulius spared not his niece. The Twins he ordered to 
be thrown into the Tiber. It chanced that at that time the river 
had overflowed his banks, and spread shallow pools over the ground 
afterwards famous as the Roman Forum. The shoal water shrank 
before the fated founder of Rome, and the Twins were 'left on dry 
ground near a wild fig-tree, which was long preserved with care- 
ful reverence under the name of the Ficus Ruminalis. Here 
they grew to boyhood, being suckled by a wolf and fed by the 
care of a woodpecker, creatures held sacred among the Latins.* 
Thus marvellously preserved, they were found by Faustulus, the 
herdsman of Amulius, who took them home to his wife Acca 
Laurentia. So the Twins grew up with the herdsman's children 
in his cot upon the Palatine, and were known by the names of 
Romulus and Remus. 

§ 5. The Twins were distinguished among the young shepherds 
by their nobler form and bolder spirit. It chanced that the 
herdsmen of Amulius, who dwelt on the Palatine Hill, were at 
fend with the herdsmen of Numitor, who fed their flocks upon 
the Aventine. The latter took Remus prisoner by an ambush, 
and brought him before Numitor, their master, who admired the 
stately figure of the youth, and recognised in his features that 
which called back to his mind the memory of his unhappy 
daughter. Soon after Romulus came up to ransom his brother, 
and his appearance confirmed Numitor in his suspicions. The 
accounts given of them by their foster-father Faustulus revealed 
to the youths their true descent. With prompt energy they 
attacked Amulius in his palace at Alba and slew him there. 
Numitor, their good grandsire, was restored to the throne of the 
Silvii, his fathers. 

§ 6. Three hundred years had now passed since the foundation 
of Alba ; and the Twins, led by omens and auguries, determined 
to quit the city of Ascanius and build a new town on the bank 
of the Tiber where they had been bred.f Now as they knew 

* " Lacte quia Infantes nescit crevisse Perino, 

Et Picum expositis ssepe tulisse cibum?" 
Ovid, Fasti, iii. 54. — Picus (the Woodpecker) was a Latin god, being father 
of Turnus, and grandsire of Latinus, Yirg., Aen. vii. 45-49. 
\ " Hie jam tercenium totos regnabitur annos 

Gente sub Hectorea, donee regina sacerdos 
Marte gravis geminam partu dabit Iha prolem. 



Chap. I. llOMULUS. 25 

not which of the two was the elder, a dispute arose with 
respect to the place and name of the projected city. Romulus 
wished to build upon the Palatine, Remus on the Aventine. To 
settle this question, they resolved to appeal to the gods. They 
were to watch, each on their chosen hill, from sunrise to sunset, 
and from sunset again to sunrise, and whoever was favoured by 
an ominous flight of birds was to be the founder. Remus first 
saw six vultures on his left. But at the moment that his mes- 
senger announced this success to Romulus, there appeared to 
Romulus a flight of twelve. Which, then, had the advantage, — 
Remus who saw first, or Romulus who saw most ? The quarrel 
was renewed, and in the fray Remus was slain by a chance blow. 

Another legend says that Romulus began to build the city on 
the Palatine, when Remus scornfully leapt over the narrow 
trench, and Romulus in wrath slew him. Another attributes 
the fatal act not to the brother, but to Celer, the friend of 
Romulus. And lastly, according to another legend still, there 
were two cities, — Rome, built by Romulus on the Palatine, and 
Remuria by Remus, not on the Aventine, but on a hill three 
miles south of Rome.* 

§ 7. Young Romulus was now left alone to build his city on 
the Palatine. He carried a wall along the edge of the hill all 
round, and ordained that a space should be left inside and out- 
side the walls clear of all buildings. This space was accounted 
holy ground, and was called the Pomoerium ; and the beginning 
of the great city of the Tiber, was called Roma Quadrata, or 
Square Rome, to distinguish it from that which inclosed all the 
seven hills within the circuit of its walls.f 

The common date for the foundation of Rome is 753 before 
the Christian era.J 

Inde lup3s fulvo nutricis tegmine Isetus 
Eomulus excipiet gentem, et Mavortia condet 
Moenia, Romanosque suo de nomine dicet." — ViRG., Aen. i. 2 '7 2. 
^neas therefore reigned 3 years ; Ascanius 3 X 10 = 30 ; the Silvii 
3X100=300. See above, §§ 2 and 3. The number 3 was also the number 
which guided Romulus in framing his institutions. See below, note on Chapt. 
iii. § 3. 

* Remus himself is often caUed the founder of Rome. — Propert., ii. 1, 23 ; 
iv. 1, 9, &c. It will be observed that aU these Legends are ignorant of the 
Legend of Evander's city upon the Palatine, whicli is adopted by Virgil. 

f There was, however, according to ancient authors, a Septiraontiwfn even 
in this primseval Rome. 

X This is the date of Yarro, which is followed by most authors. Cato 
placed it 332 years after the fall of Troy, i. e. in 752 B.C. Polybius and 
others in 750 B.C. Cincius Alimentus, a Roman annahst contemporary with 
Hannibal, as late as 729 B.C. 

2 



26 EOMB UNDER THE KINGS. BOOK I. 

§ 8. The walls were built and the city ready, but men were 
wanting to people it. To supply this want Eomulus set apart 
a place within the walls as a sanctuary or refuge for those who 
had shed blood, for slaves who had run away from their masters, 
and the like. Hence the city of Romulus was called by the Greek 
name of the Asylum. 

But though by this means men were supplied in plenty, they 
lacked wives, and the neighbouring cities held them unworthy to 
receive their daughters in marriage. Romulus therefore deter- 
mined to compass by foul means what he could not obtain by 
fair. He invited the people of the Sabines and neighbouring 
Latin towns to witness the Consualia, or games to be celebrated 
in honour of the god Consus ; and when they were intent upon 
the show, a number of Roman youths rushed in and seized all 
the marriageable maidens on whom they could lay hands. This 
was the famous Rape of the Sabine Women. 

§ 9, The kindness of their Roman husbands soon reconciled 
the women thus strangely wedded to their lot : but their 
parents and kinsfolk took up arms to avenge the insult they had 
received. First came the men of Csenina, Crustumerium, and 
A-ntemnse ; but Romulus defeated them all, and slew Acron, 
chief of the men of Csenina, in single combat, and offered up his 
arms as a trophy to Jupiter Feretrius. Trophies thus won by 
the leader of one army from the leader of another were called 
spolia opima, and were only gained on two other occasions in the 
whole course of Roman history. 

The war with the Sabines of Cures was more serious. They 
came with a large force under their chief, Titus Tatius by 
name, and advanced to the foot of what was then called the 
Saturnian Hill, the same that afterwards became famous under 
the name of the Capitoline. The southern portion of this hill 
was called the Tarpeian,'* and here Romulus had made a cita- 
del, which he committed to the care of his faithful follower 
Tarpeius. But Tarpeius had a daughter, the fair Tarpeia, less 
faithful than her sire, and she promised to admit the Sabines 
into the citadel " if they would give her what they wore upon 
their left arms," by which she meant their golden armlets. She 
opened the gates ; but the Sabine soldiers threw upon her the 
heavy shields which they also " wore upon their left arms," and 
was crushed to death, — a meet reward for treachery. 

The Romans and Sabines now lay over against each other, the 
former on the Palatine, the latter on the Saturnian Hill, with a 

* The lower part was the Tarpeian Hill or Capitol, and the upper was 
the Arx. The depression between these two eminences was called Inter- 
montium. 



Chap. I. EOMULUS. 27 

swampy valley between them, tlie same in wliich the Twins had 
been exposed, the same which afterwards became so famous as 
the Forum of Rome. Here they fought many battles. Once 
the Sabines had forced their way up to the very Pomoerium of 
the Palatine, when, behold ! the gates burst open, and the 
god Janus poured forth a flood of water and swept away 
the foe. 

Another time, Mettus Curtius, a brave Sabine, forced his horse 
through the swamp and pressed the Romans hard. Romulus 
invoked the aid of Jupiter Stator, or the Stayer of Flight, and 
rallied his Romans. Still the battle raged fiercely, when the 
Sabine women, who were the cause of the war, rushed down from 
the Palatine with dishevelled hair and threw themselves between 
their Roman husbands and their Sabine kinsmen. Then a peace 
was made ; and in memory of the service done by the Sabine 
matrons, a festival called the Matronalia was celebrated on the 
Calends of March, which was at that time the first day of the 
new year.* 

§ 10. By the peace then made it was agreed that the people 
of Rome and Cures should be united into one community. Ro- 
mulus and his Romans were to continue in the possession of the 
Palatine Hill, while Titus and his Sabines were to occupy the 
Quirinal.f The Saturnian Hill or Citadel was left in possession 
of the Sabines. The two kings were to retain joint authority, 
and to debate on matters concerning the Avhole community, 
the Burgesses of both nations were to assemble at the upper 
end of the valley which afterwards became the Forum, ■whence 
this place was called the Comitium or Meeting-place. More- 
over it is to be noted that Romulus assumed the Sabme name 
of Quirinus,J and all the Burgesses or Citizens were cabed by 
the Sabine title of Quirites or Men of the Spear,|| fatts which 

* Therefore Horace amuses himself with the wonder whiclj his frienda 
would feel at seeing him, a bachelor^ preparing for festivities on the day of 
the matroTCs feast : — 

" Martiis cmlebs quid agam Kalendis," &c. — Od. iii. 8, 1. 
Compare Ovid, Fasti, iii. ItO, sqq. 

f " Hunc igitur .... veteres dona.rant sede Sabini, 

Inque Quirinali constitu^re jugo." — Ovm, JFasti^ d. 217. 

X " narravit Tatium fortemque Quirinum, 

Binaque cum popuhs regna coisse suis." — Ibid. 93. 
I From Quiris, Sabine for a- spear. Others derived these names from the 
town of Cures. Ovid {Fasti, ii. 475) notes both derivations :— 
" Siva quod hasta Quiris priscis est dicta Sabinis, 
Seu quia Romanis junxerat ille Cures." 
See below, Chapt. iv. § 8. 



28 EOiiuS UNDER THE KINGS. . Book I. 

plainly proved tliat in tlie union the Sabines had the lion's share 
of the spoil. 

§ 11. At this time the Etruscans were powerful by land and 
sea. They had, as the legend relates, taken part in the wars be- 
tween ^Eneas and the Rutulians ; and another legend mentions 
that Cseles Vibenna, one of their chiefs, had settled on the hill 
which lies to the south-east of the Palatine, and that from him 
this hill received the name of Cselian. This Cseles is said to 
have assisted Romiilus in his war againt the Sabines, and when 
peace was made, his followers were allowed to become members 
of the new community. Thus four of the seven hills were com- 
bined into one city, the Palatine, Quirinal, and Cselian, with the 
Saturnian for the Citadel. 

§ 12. Not long after the union, Titus Tatius, the Sabine king, 
was killed while sacrificing at Lavinium by the Latins, in revenge 
for some injuries Avhich they had received from some of his Sa- 
bine compatriots. Romulus now resumed the sole sovereignty, 
and ruled without a colleague. He is said to have reigned in all 
seven and thirty years, when he came to a sudden and unexpected 
end. It chanced, says the Legend, that he was reviewing his 
army on the Field of Mars by the Goat's Pool, when there arose 
a fearful storm, and the darkness was so thick that no man could 
see his neighbour. When it cleared off, the king had disap- 
peared. But it was revealed that he had been carried away in 
the chariot of his father Mars ;* and shortly after one Julius 
Proculus related that as he was returning from Alba, Romulus the 
King had appeared to him in celestial form, and told him that 
hereafter the people of Rome were to regard him as their guard- 
ian god jointly with Mars, and were to worship him by his Sabine 
name of Quirinus. 

But in later days this Legend seemed too marvellous, and a 
new one was adopted. It was said that the chief men — the 
Sabine nobles we may presume — had murdered hiin in the con- 
fusion of the storm, had carried away his body piecemeal under 
their gowns, and then had invented the miraculous story to 
conceal their crime. 

§ 13. To Romulus are attributed all the early institutions of 
Rome, Social, Political, and Military. 

(1.) To begin with the Social regulations. The whole popula- 
tion were divided into two classes, the Burgesses or citizens on 
the one hand, and on the other their Clients or dependents.! 

* " Quirinus 

Martis equis Acheronta fugit." — Horat., Od. 
I The common derivation of diesis is from icMecv, to hear or obey, with 
which is compared tlie Latin old diiere, to be called [so and so]. 



Chap. I. ROMULUS. 29 

The Burgesses were*called Patrons in relation to tlieir Clients. 
These Patrons were expected, by law or custom, to defend tlieir 
Clients from all Avrong or oppression on tlie part of others, while 
the Clients were bound to render certain services to their 
Patrons ; so that the relation of Patron and Client in some de- 
gree resembled that of Lord and Vassal in the feudal times, or 
that of Chief and Clansman in the highlands of Scotland, or per- 
haps even that of Proprietor and Serf in Russia. The Burgesses 
alone engrossed all political rights, and they alone made up what 
was at this time the Populus Romanus or Body Politic of Rome. 
The Clients were at the mercy of their Patrons, and had as yet no 
place in the State. 

(2.) The Political institutions of Romulus could only affect 
the Burgessess or Patrons. Among these the old national dis- 
tinctions gave the rule of division. They were formed into three 
Tribes* or nations, — the Ramnes or Romans of Romulus, the 
Titles or Sabines of Titus, the Luceres or Etruscans of Cseles, 
who Avas a Lucumo or nobleman in his own Etruscan city. 

Then he subdivided each Tribe into ten Curiae, and each Curia 
had a chief oflBcer called its Curio. In all, therefore, there were 
thirty Curiae, and they received names after thirty of the Sabine 
women who had brought about the union of the nations. The 
Burgesses used to meet according to their Curiae in the Comitium 
to vote on all matters of state, which the King was bound to lay 
before them, and their assembly was called the Comitia Curiata, 
or Assembly of the Curies, and all matters were decided by the 
majority of Curiae that voted for or against it. No law could be 
made except with their consent. Nor was the sovereign power 
of the king considered legally established till it had been con- 
ferred by a curiate law. By the sovereign power (Imperium) so 
conferred the King held chief command in war, and was supreme 
judge in all matters of life and death, and in token thereof he 
was attended by twelve lictors bearing bundles of rods with sharp 
axes projecting from the middle of them (fasces). 

Besides this large assembly, in which all Burgesses were enti- 
tled to vote, each in his own curia, there was a select body for 
advising the King, called the Senate or Council of Elders. This 
consisted at first of 100 members ; but when the Sabines were 
joined to the Romans, 100 more were added, so that the whole 
number consisted of 200, being 10 from each of the 20 Ramnian 
and Titian Curies : for the Luceres or Third Tribe, though they 
also had 10 Curiae, were not as yet allowed to send any members 
to the Senate, 

* The word tribiis itself originally meant a third pari. See § 6, Note. 



80 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. 

(3.) For military purposes each Tribe wa^ ordered to furnish 
1000 men on foot and 100 on horseback, so that the army of the 
united burgesses consisted of 3000 foot and 300 horse, and was 
called by the name of Legion. The 300 horsemen were the no- 
blest young men of the military age, and also served as a body- 
guard to the king. The horsemen of each Tribe were called a 
Century, and the three Centuries were known by the same name 
as their Tribes — Ramnes, Titles, and Luceres. The whole 
squadron was called by the joint name of Celeres, and the Cap- 
tain or Prefect of the Celeres bore the first rank in the state 
after the King.* 

§ 14. Romulus had left the earth, and there was no King at 
Rome. The Senators took the government into their own hands. 
For this purpose the whole Senate was divided into tens : each 
ten was called a Decuria, and the chief of each Decuria a Decu- 
rion. Every Decurion with his nine compeers held the sovereign 
power for five days. The Decurions therefore were called Inter- 
reges or Between-kings, and the time during which they ruled 
was an Interregnum. 

When this state of things had continued for a year, the Bur- 
gesses imperiously demanded that they should have a King. The 
Senate yielded, and a Sabine named Numa Pompilius was chosen, 
known as a just and holy man, famous for his wisdom in all mat- 
ters of right and religion. He was elected by the Curies in their 
assembly, and himself proposed the law whereby he was invested 
with sovereign power. His peaceful reign lasted for nine and 
thirty years, after which he was buried with the books of his 
laws on Mount Janiculum. 

§ 15. As Romulus the Roman Avas held to be the framer of all 
regulations Social, Political, and Military, so Numa the Sabine 
is the reputed author of all the Religious and Ecclesiastical 
institutions of Rome. 

According to the Legend, he was instructed in all these things 
by Egeria, a Muse or (as the Latins called her) a Camena. To 
her sacred grove he was admitted, and even became her spouse. 
By her counsel he surprised the gods Picus and Faunus in their 
retreat under the Aventine, and kept them in duress till they 
had taught him how to draw forth Jupiter, the Father of the 
gods, from heaven. Jupiter appeared in the form of lightning, 
and promised him a public sign of his favour. Accordingly, 
next day, in the presence of the assembled Burgesses, the ancile 

* It will be remembered that according to one form of the legend, it was 
Celer who killed Remus, § 6. 



Chap. I. NUMA. 31 

or sacred shield of Mars Gradivus, the father of Quirinus, fell 
from, heaven amid lightning and thunder. To prevent this pre- 
cious gift from being stolen, Numa ordered eleven others to be 
made of exactly the same substance, size, and shape, so that no 
man miffht know which was the true ancile : and to take charge 
of these shields, twelve Salii, or dancing priests of Mars, were 
appointed, who also officiated at the public thanksgiving which 
in after times the Romans used to offer after great victories.* 

Further, for the regulation of the worship of the gods, and to 
decide all questions of religion, he created four pontiffs, with a 
superior named the Pontifex Maximus. These acted as a kind 
of ecclesiastical council ; and the offices were usually held by the 
most distinguished men at Rome, for there Avere no clergy or 
class set apart from other classes for religious purposes. For 
the special service of the two guardian gods of Rome, Mars Gra- 
divus and Quirinus, he appointed two Flamens, called respec- 
tively the Flamens of Gradivus and Quirinus. With these was 
associated a third, devoted to the service of supreme Jupiter, 
who bore the name of the Flamen Dialis. 

To consult the will of the gods by auguries and divinations he 
created four Augurs. 

And to keep " alive the sacred fire of Vesta, which had been 
brought from the shrine of the goddess at Alba, the mother city 
of Rome, he ordained that there should be four Vestal Virgins. 
In honour of Vesta he built a temple on the north side of the 
Palatine, abutting on the Forum, and adjoining it a dwelling for 
the vestals. His own palace also, the Regia, he placed next to 
the temple of the goddess. 

To distinguish time of war from time of peace, he is said to 
have built a temple to the god Janus, or the Double God, whose 
two faces looked different ways.f During the whole of his reign 
the door of the temple was closed in sign of peace ; but from his 
time to the time of the Emperor Augustus it remained open in 
sign of war, except during a brief period after the first Punic 



* Hence Horace (Od. i. 38), on receiving the news of the victory of 
Augustus at Actium, breaks out : — 

" Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero 
Pulsanda tellus ; nunc Saliaribvs 
Omare pulvinar Deorum 

Tempus erat dapibus, sodales." 
Such thanksgivings were called supplicationes. 

f His name Janus (i. e. Djanus), corresponding to the feminine Diana 
(Djana), is derived from the root dis (tSif) or his, implying double. It may 
here be observed that tlae divinities of ancient Latium went in pairs, as, 
besides Janus and Diana, Saturnus and Ops, Vulcanus and Vesta. 



32 EOMB UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. 

§ 16. Yet Numa willed not that the Eomans should offer costly- 
sacrifices to the gods, but ordained that they should present 
corn and the fruits of the earth, and not any living thing ; for he 
was a lover of husbandry, and was anxious that this peaceful art 
should flourish. Therefore he took pains to secure each man in 
possession of his land, and fixed the bounds of each farm by 
landmarks or termini, which it was sacrilege to remove, for they 
were under the protection of the god Terminus ; and in honour 
of this god he established the yearly festival of the Terminalia. 
Moreover he distributed all the lands of Rome into pagi or dis- 
tricts, and' ordered the memory of this act to be kept alive by 
the feast of the Paganalia.* 

§ 17. Some other matters are attributed to Numa which might 
here be mentioned. Ke is said to have divided the people into 
guilds or companies, according to their trades and professions. 
He built a temple to Good Faith ; he determined the dies fasti 
and nefasti, or common days and holidays ; and lastly, he is said 
to have added to the year of Eomulus (which consisted of 10 
months only, some of them but 20 days long) the months of 
January and February, and to have ordained that the year should 
consist of twelve lunar months and one day over, or in all of 
355 days.f 

* The city land was similarly (it is not said by whom) divided into vici 
or wards, with a corresponding festival called Compitaha. This festival is 
attributed to Servius TuUius. 

■}• The Eomans continued to reckon by this short year till the calendar was 
reformed by the dictator Csesar; and in order to make the lunar year of 355 
days square to some extent with the solar year of 365|- days, Numa is said to 
have ordained that a supplementary month should be intercalated every third 
year between the 23rd and the 25th of February, whicli was considered to be 
the last month of the year. This business of intercalation, however, was left 
to the Pontiffs, who executed it in a very arbitrary and uncertain manner. 
"When, therefore, we hear of events taking place in any Roman month, it seldom 
happens that this month coincides with our own month of the same name : 
and this makes it extremely difficult to decide the exact time of most events in 
Roman History before the Julian era. 




Lake of Alba. 



CHAPTER II. 



TULLUS HOSTILIUS AND ANCUS MARTIUS, THE THIRD AND FOURTH 

KINGS. 

§ 1. Increase of Eome in next two reigns. § 2. Choice of Tullus HosTrLius. 
§ 3. "War with Alba. Legend of Horatii and Curiatii. § 4. War with 
Etruscans. Punishment of Mettus Fuffetius. § 5. Forced migration of 
Albans to Eome. § 6. "War with Sabines. § T. Curia Hostilia. § 8. 
Death of Tullus. § 9, 10. Election of Angus Martius: his institutions. 
§ 11. Subjugation of Southern Latium: increase of Eoman citizens. § 12. 
Pons SubUcius : Janiculum: Ostia. §13. Death of Ancus. 

§ 1. From the reigns of Romulus and Nuraa, the reputed foun- 
ders of Rome and all her early institutions, we pass to that of 
two Kings, also a Roman and a Sabine, who swelled the numbers 
of the Roman people by the addition of large bodies of Latins, 
many of whom were transferred from their own cities by force 
or persuasion. These Kings prepared the way for the more ex- 
tensive political changes attributed to their successors. 

§ 2. An Interregnum again ensued after the death of Numa. 

2* 



34 KOMB UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. 

But in no long time tlie Burgesses met, and chose to be their 
king TuLLUs HosTiLius, a Roman, whose grandsire had been a 
captain in the army of Romulus. His reign of two-and-thirty 
years was as bloody and warlike as that of Numa had been calm 
and peaceful. The acts attributed to him are, first, the esta- 
blishment of the Latins of Alba in Rome, and secondly, the crea- 
tion of judges to try matters of life and death in place of the 
king, called Qusestores Parricidii. The famous Legends which 
follow give the reasons for both these matters. 

§ 3. The chief war of Tullus was against the Albans. It broke 
out thus. The lands of Rome and Alba marched together, that 
is, they bordered one upon the other, and the borderers of both 
nations had frequent quarrels and plundered one another. King 
Tullus took up the cause of his people, and demanded restitu- 
tion of the booty taken by the Albans from Cluilius, the Dictator 
of Alba, who replied that his people had suffered to the full as 
much from the Romans as they of Rome from the Albans. 
Since, then, neither party would make satisfaction, war was de- 
clared. Cluilius first led out his army and encamped within 
five miles of Rome, at a place afterwards called the Fossa Cluilia, 
where he died, and the Albans chose Mettus Fuffetius to be 
Dictator in his stead. Meanwhile Tullus, on his part, had 
marched into the territory of the Albans, and Mettus returned 
to give him battle. But when the two armies were drawn up 
ready to fight, Mettus proposed that the quarrel should be de- 
cided by the combat of champions chosen from each army, and 
Tullus agreed to the proposal. Now it chanced that there were 
three brothers in each army, equal in age, strength, and valour. 
Horatii was the name of the three Roman brethren, Curiatii of 
the Alban.* These were chosen to be the champions, and an 
agreement was made, with solemn rites, that victory should be 
adjudged to that people whose champions should conquer in the 
strife. Then the two armies sate down opposite one another as 
spectators of the combat, but not like common spectators, for 
each man felt that the question at issue was whether Rome was 
to be mistress of Alba or Alba of Rome. Long and bravely 
fought all the champions. At length all the Curiatii were 
grievously wounded ; but of the Horatii two lay dead upon the 
plain, while the third was yet untouched. So the surviving Ho- 
ratius, seeing that, single-handed, he could not prevail, pretended 
to flee before his three opponents. They pursued him, each as 
he was able ; the most vigorous was foremost ; he that had lost 

* In another form of the legend, the names are reversed. It may be pre- 
sumed that this is the Latin version, whUe the received form is the Roman. 
Each nation would wish to claim the conqueror. 



Chap. II TULLUS HOSTILIUS. 35 

most blood lagged behind. And when Horatius saw that they 
were far separate one from another, he turned about and smote 
the first pursuer ; so likewise the second ; and lastly he slew the 
third. Then the Romans were adjudged victorious. 

But a sad event followed to damp their joy. Horatius was 
returning home with the spoils of the slaughtered three borne 
in triumph before him, when, outside the Capuan gate,* he met 
his sister. Alas ! she had been betrothed to one of the Alban 
brethren, and noAV she beheld his bloody vestments adorning the 
triumph of her brother, and she wept aloud before all the army. 
But when Horatius saw this, he was so angered that he took his 
sword and stabbed her where she stood. 

Now all, both Senate and People, were shocked at this unnatural 
deed ; and though they owed so much to Horatius, they ordered 
him to be tried before two Judges appointed by the King. These 
Judges found Horatius guilty, and condemned him to be " hanged 
Avith a rope," according to the law; nor had they power to lighten 
his punishment. But Horatius appealed to the People, and they 
pardoned him, because he had fought so well for them, and be- 
cause old Horatius, the father, entreated for him, and said that 
his daughter had been rightly slain, and that he would himself 
have slain her, as he had a right to do, because he was her father; 
for by the old Roman law the father had this terrible power over 
his children. But to atone for the bloodshed, the father was 
ordered to make certain sacrifices at the public expense ; and 
the heads of the Horatian Gens continued to offer these sacri- 
fices ever afterwards. 

§ 4. Thus it was that the Albans became subjects of King 
TuUus, and they were bound to assist him in war against his 
enemies; and he soon called upon them to follow him against 
the Etruscans of Veii and Fidense. So Mettus Fufi"etius came 
to his aid with a brave army ; but in the battle Mettus stood 
aloof upon a hill with his army, waiting to see which party 
should prevail. The Romans were so hard pressed that the 
king to stay the alarm, vowed temples in case of victory to Pale- 
ness and Panic-fear (Pallor et Pavor). At length the battle Avas 
won, and then the Alban Dictator came down and pretended to 
be on their side. But Tullus took no notice, and summoned all 
the Albans to come next day to consult on public afiairs. So 
they came, as to a peaceful assembly, with no arms in their 
hands, when suddenly the Roman, legion closed around them, 
and they could neither fight or flee. Then Tullus rebuked the 
Albans, but said that he would only punish their chief, for that 

* It may be noted that there was no Capuan Gate (Porta Capena) tiU after 
the building of the walls of Servius TuUius. 



36 EOME UNDER THE KINGS. Book L 

he was the most guilty. And he took Mettus and bound him 
by the arms and legs to two four-horsed chariots ; and the cha- 
riots, being drawn different ways, tore the unhappy wretch 
asunder. 

§ 5. Then Tullus gave orders that the city of Alba should be 
dismantled, and that all its burgesses with their clients should 
migrate to Rome. It was sad to leave their fathers' homes and 
the temples of their fathers' gods. Yet was their new abode no 
strange city. Had not Rome been founded by Alban princes ? 
and did not the Quirites keep up the eternal fire of Vesta and 
worship the Latin Jupiter ? Nor did Tullus treat them as ene- 
mies, but gave them the Cselian Hill for their quarter ; and he 
built a palace for himself on the same hill and dwelt in the midst 
of them : he also made the heads of chief Alban families bur- 
gesses of Rome, and placed some of their chief men in the Senate. 

§ 6. After this he also made war against the Sabines ; and in 
fulfilment of a vow which he made in the stress of battle, he 
celebrated his victory by establishing the games of the Saturnalia 
and Opalia in honour of the Latin god Saturnus and the god- 
dess Ops. 

§ 7. To Tullus Hostilius likewise is attributed the building of 
the Senate-house, called from him the Curia Hostilia. It stood on 
the edge of the Comitium facing the Palatine ; and in a building 
erected on the same spot at a later time, and bearing the same 
name, the Senate continued to hold their ordinary meetings till 
the days of Julius Caesar. 

§ 8. But amid his triumphs and successes Tullus rendered not 
meet reverence to the gods. The people of Rome were smitten 
by a plague, and the King himself fell ill of a lingering disease. 
Then he bethought him to seek counsel of Jupiter, after the 
manner of King Numa. But when he took his station upon the 
Aventine, and endeavoured to draw forth the father of the gods 
from heaven, lightnings descended, as to Numa, but Avith de- 
stroying force, so that he himself was smitten and his house 
burnt down. His reign had lasted two-and-thirty years. 

§ 9. After a short interregnum, the Burgesses chose Aureus 
Martius to be King, a Sabine noble, son of a daughter of King 
Numa. His reputation was worthy of his descent ; and his first 
act was to order the laws of his venerated grandsire to be written 
out fair on a white board and set up for all to read in the Forum. 
He also made a prison for criminals in the rock beneath that 
side of the Saturnian Hill which overhangs the Forum, — the 
same which was afterwards enlarged by King Servius TuUius, 
and called after him the Tullianum. 



Chap. II. ANGUS MARTIUS. 37 

§ 10. Ancus was a lover of peace ; but he did not shrink from 
war, when Avar was necessary to protect the honour of the Roman 
name. But even in matters of war he showed that reverence for 
law and order, Avhich was his ruling characteristic. For he 
created a college of sacred Heralds, called Fetiales, whose business 
it was to demand reparation for injuries in a regular and formal 
manner,'* and in case of refusal to declare war by hurling a spear 
into the enemy's land. 

§ 11. His chief wars were with the Latin cities of the neigh- 
bourhood. He took Politorium, and destroyed it; and reduced 
to subjection all the Latin shore, or that part of Latium which 
lies between Rome and the sea. The heads of families in these 
Latin cities, after the example set by Tullus Hostilius, were made 
Roman citizens ; and to such as chose to settle in Rome Ancus 
assigned Mount Aventine for a dwelling-place, so that thus a fifth 
hill was added to the other four. In this way the city of Rome 
was greatly increased, and large numbers added to its citizens ; 
while by the wars of Tullus and Ancus the power of the Latins 
proportionably diminished. 

But the Latins whom Ancus made citizens of Rome, were not, 
like the Albans in the time of Tullus, put on an equality with the 
old Burgesses. Most of them continued to reside in their own 
small cities, subject to Roman authority. They formed a new 
element in the state — being neither Patrons nor Clients — of which 
we shall speak more at length in our account of Tarquinius Pris- 
ons. It is probably this encouragement of a free people, who 
were not bound by the ties of Clientship to any Patron, that 
leads Virgil to speak of Ancus as " too much rejoicing in popular 
favour." f 

§ 12. Other works of utility are attributed to Ancus Martins. 
He is said to have made the first bridge over the Tiber. It was 
built of wooden piles (sublicse), and hence was called the Pons 
Sublicius. In order to prevent it being broken down by the 
Etruscans who lived on the other side of the Tiber, he fortified 
Janiculum, where his grandsire Numa lay buried. He also built 
the town of Ostia at the mouth of the river, which long continued 
to be the principal haven of the Roman people. 

§ 13. He died in peace after a prosperous reign of four-and- 
twenty years. 

* "We find, however, that the same formality was observed by Tullus Hos- 
tilius in declaring war against Alba: see § 3. 

f " Quern juxta sequitur jactantior Ancus, 

Nunc quoque jam nimium gaudens popularibus auris." 

ViRG., Aen. vi. 816. 




Cloaca Maxima. 



CHAPTER III. 



TARQUINIUS PRISCUS AND SERVIUS TULLIUS, THE FIFTH AND 
SIXTH KINGS. 

§ 1. Sons of Ancus set aside. § 2. Early history of Taequinius Peiscus. 
§ 3. How he came to be chosen King. § 4. Addition to numbers of Senate, 
§ 5. Social state before reforms of Tarquin. Patricians or Patrons, Clients, 
Plebeians. § 6. Origin of Plebs. § 1. Tarquin's plan of reform. § 8. 
Opposition of Patricians. Legend of Attus Navius. § 9. Plan modified. 
Augmentation of Patrician Gentes and of Knights. § 10. Wars of Tarquin. 
§ 11. Public works: Cloaca Maxima, etc. § 12. Legend of death of 
Tarquin. § 13. Servius Tullius. § 14. Wish to give political power 
to aU Plebeians. § 15. Plan of reform. Comitia Centuriata. § 16. 
Census. Preponderating influence of property. § 17. Plebs made part of 
Populus, or Body Politic. § 18. Eoman territory divided into Tribes. 
§ 19. Pour of city. § 20. Sixteen of country. § 21. Only Plebeians 
originally members of Tribes. § 22. Assembly of curias finally superseded 
by that of Tribes. § 23. Walls of Rome built by Servius. § 24. Principal 
places in early Rome. § 25. Alliance with Latins. § 26. Legend of death 
of Servius. 

§ 1. The first trace of hereditary succession in the Roman 
monarchy appears with Ancus. He was grandson to Numa, and 



Chap. III. TARQUINIUS PRISCUS. 39 

according to one legend conspired to take away the life of his pre- 
decessor Tullus. But the legends, after the death of Ancus, all 
make the notion of hereditary right an essential element in the 
succession. Ancus had left two sons, as yet boys. But when 
they grew up, and found the throne occupied by a stranger, they 
took measures for asserting their right. It is of this stranger that 
we must noAv speak. He is known to all by the name of Tar- 
QuiNius Priscus. 

§ 2. Tarquinius had been a citizen of Tarquinii, a city of 
Etruria. But it was said that his father was a Greek nobleman 
of Corinth, Demaratus by name, who had fled from his native 
land, because the power had fallen into the hands of a tyrannical 
oligarchy.'* The son had become a Lucumo or Chief at Tarquinii, 
had gained great wealth, and married a noble Etruscan lady, 
Tanaquil by name. Both himself and his wife were eager for 
power and honour ; and, as they could not satisfy their desires at 
home, they determined to try their fortune in the new city on the 
Tiber, where their countryman Cseles Vibenna and his foUoMcis 
had already settled.f Therefore they set out for Eome; and when 
they had reached the Mount Janiculum, in full view of the city, 
an eagle came down with gentle swoop and took the cap from ofi" 
the head of Tarquin, and then, wheeling round him, replaced it. 
His wife Tanaquil, skilled in augury, like all the Etruscans, inter- 
preted this to be an omen of good-. " The eagle," she said, " was 
a messenger from heaven ; it had restored the cap as a gift of the 
gods ; her husband would surely rise to honour and power." Thus 
it was that he came to settle in Rome, probably among his coun- 
trymen on the Cselian Hill. He took the Latin name of Lucius 
Tarquinius Priscus ; J and by his riches and his cleverness and 
goodwill he gained the favour of King Ancus, and was made guar- 
dian of his children. 

But he used the power so gotten in his own favour ; and the 
people chose him to be their king. 

§ 3. It needs some explanation to show how Tarquin, being 
an Etruscan stranger, came to be chosen king of Rome : for in 
all likelihood he belonged to the tribe of the Luceres ; and this 
Tribe had hitherto been held subordinate. The Ramnians of the 
Palatine and Titians of the Quirinal had kept power in their own 
hands ; and the Kings had been chosen by turns from these two 
Tribes. Romulus and Tullus were Ramnians ; Numa and Ancus 

* Indentified by the Romans with the Bacehiades mentioned by Herodotus. 

\ Chapt. i. § 11. Another legend makes Cseles younger than Tarquin. 
Compare § 12, and Chapt. v. § 11. 

X Another form of the legend takes no notice of his Etruscan origin, and 
gives him to wife a person bearing the undeniably Latin name of Caia CEecilia. 



40 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. 

were Titians. Also, Eomulus had chosen only 200 elders into 
the Senate ; of whom 100 were first chosen from the Romans or 
Ramnians of the Palatine, and 100 afterwards from the Sabines 
or Titians of the Quirinal ; and there were no Lucerians in the 
Senate, except perhaps some few that King Tullus had added 
from the Alban families, which he settled in the Caslian Hill. 
Moreover, Numa did not admit the Burgesses of the Lucerian 
Tribe into the sacred offices which he made. For, under the 
Chief Pontifex, there were but four other Pontifices, two for the 
Eamnians, and two for the Titians. So, under the Chief Flamen 
of Jove, there were but two Flamens, one belonging to the 
Roman or Ramnian god Mars, the other to him who had become 
a god by the Sabine name of Quirinus. Likewise, he had made 
but four Augurs, and four Vestal Virgins ; two for the Ramnians, 
and two for the Titians ; * and Tullus Hostilius had appointed 
but two Judges to represent him in deciding cases of life and 
death. The Luceres, therefore, were held in small account ; and 
no doubt in the Comitia Curiata they were always outvoted by 
the other two Tribes ; for they had but 10 Curiae to the 20 of the 
other two. 

But of late the Luceres had been waxing in power. The 
Albans had been added to their ranks ; and no doubt this addi- 
tion had made them more Latin, more like the other Romans, and 
less like the Etruscans. It might well be, therefore, that Tarquin 
was able by their means to raise himself to the kingly power. At 
all events, we may be sure that the four first Kings appear as 
representatives of the two elder Tribes ; and that the three last 
belonged to the Luceres. 

§ 4. Tarquin soon began to use his power to raise those by 
Avhom he had risen ; for he made the Luceres almost equal in dig- 
nity to the two old Tribes. First he chose 100 fresh members 
into the Senate, who (we cannot doubt) were all of the Lucerian 
Tribe ; so that now the Senate consisted of 300. Then, he in- 
creased the number of Vestal Virgins to six ; the two new ones 
being (it is presumed) Lucerian. But the influence of the old 
Tribes in the colleges of Pontifices, Augurs, and Flamens appears 
to have been too strong to allow him to make similar alterations 
here. These remained according to the numbers fixed by Numa 
for a great many years. 

* It has been already noticed that the number 3 frequently recurs in the 
early history of Rome (c. i. § 6 and § 13). But this number is suddenly 
interrupted, and (as appears from the text) 2 became the ruling unit of com- 
bination. The latter number seems to have been the favourite of the Latins : 
see Chapt. i. § 15, Note. Probably this change must be attributed to the 
dominant influence of the two elder tribes. 



Chap. III. TARQUINIUS PRISCUS, 41 

§ 5. Tarquin, liowever, was not satisfied witli simply raising liis 
Lucerian friends to an equality witli the Burgesses of the old 
Tribes. He designed to make other alterations in the state, larger 
and more important. To explain these we must go back to the 
institutions attributed to Romulus. The whole body of the people 
had been divided (as we saw) into two great classes, Patrons and 
Clients. The Clients or vassals being wholly dependent upon 
their Patrons, had no part in the Body Politic, nor had they the 
right of connuhium (as it was called), that is, the right of inter- 
marrying with their Patrons. The Patrons, alone, therefore (we 
repeat), made up the Populus or Body Politic of Rome : these 
only Avere members of the Three Tribes ; these only voted in the 
Comitium by their Curiae, when they chose their Kings or made 
laws. At first, then, there were only two classes of freemen at 
Rome, Patrons and Clients ; and all the power was in the hands 
of the Patrons. 

These Patrons or Lords also took the name oipatres ov patricii, 
Fathers or Patricians. In after times the name of Patres was con- 
fined to the senators, and the descendants of the old patrons or 
patres were called Patricians. The Patricians were at this time 
the same as the Burgesses. 

The Patricians were divided into certain private associations, 
called Gentes, which we may translate Houses or Clans. All the 
members of each Gens were called gentiles ; and they bore the 
same name, which always ended in -ius ; as for instance, every 
member of the Julian Gens was a Julius ; every member of the 
Cornelian Gens was a Cornelius, and so on. Now in every Gens 
there were a number of Families^ which were distinguished by a 
name added to the name of the Gens. Thus the Scipios, Sullas, 
Cinnas, Cethegi, Lentuli were all Families of the Cornelian Gens. 
Lastly, every person of every Family was denoted by a name pre- 
fixed to the name of the Gens. The name of the person was, in 
Latin, prcenomen ; that of the Gens or House, nomen; that of the 
Family, cognomen. Thus Caius Julius Caesar was a person of the 
Caesar Family in the Julian Gens ; Lucius Cornelius Scipio was a 
person of the Scipio Family in the Cornelian Gens ; and so forth. 
Their praenomen, or fore-name, was Caius or Lucius, etc.; their 
nomen or name Julius, Cornelius, etc. ; their cognomen or sur- 
name Caesar, Scipio, etc. These Gentes may be compared to the 
Scottish Clans, in which there are many Families, as in the Clan 
Campbell there are the great Families of Argyle and Breadalbane 
and others. 

Whether the Gentes were originally connected by blood or 
not, is hard to say.* But whether it was so or no, it is certain 
* See the discussion in Niebuhr, i. p. 33, &c. 



42 EOMB UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. 

that they ceased to be so, just as in the Scottish Clans. But they 
were bound together by certain private sacred rites, called sacra 
ffentilicia, of which we have seen one example in the case of the 
Horatian Gens.* 

The Patrons or Patricians, then, alone belonged to Gentes, and 
these only might intermarry with each other. If a Patrician mar- 
ried a Client, their issue could not take the Patrician rank, or 
become a member of his parent's house ; because the Clients had 
not the connubium, or right of marriage with their Patrons. 

But as time went on, there arose a third class of freemen at 
Eome, who were neither Patrons nor Clients — neither lords over 
vassals, nor vassals dependent upon lords. These were called 
Plebeians, and their general name was Plebs, or the Commonalty. 
They were like the Clients, in that they had no part in the 
government, in that they were excluded from the patrician houses, 
and could not intermarry with the Patricians. But they were 
unlike the Clients, in that they were quite free and independent, 
subject to no lord, except to the King and the laws. 

§ 6. Now comes the question — How did this Plebs or Com- 
mons come into being ? How came there to. be Plebeians in the 
time of Tarquinius Priscus, whereas they were at all events but 
few in the time of Romulus ? 

It is probable that at the first settlement of the city there 
were a number of people previously dwelling about the Seven 
Hills, who were made subject without becoming Clients. These 
were the original Plebeians, that is, free men, without political 
rights. Their numbers were afterwards" much increased in 
various ways. First, a Patron might marry a Client's daughter, 
or a Client might marry a Patrician lady, and then the children 
would be neither Patricians nor Clients. Again, a Patron might 
die and leave no heirs, and then all his Clients would become 
independent, having no lord. But the third class was mainly 
formed by the addition of Latins, who were not powerful enough 
to gain admittance into the Patrician Gentes and Tribes. 
Tullus, we remember, brought the Albans to Rome, and admitted 
their chief families into the patrician order. But there were 
many families that were not so admitted. However, the great 
increase of this kind took place when King Ancus peopled the 
Aventine with Latins, and conquered all the country between 
Rome and the Sea. All new settlers who were not, like the 
Albans, admitted into the ranks of the Burgesses, and all the 
burgesses of conquered towns who continued to dwell at home, 
swelled the number of the Plebeians or Commons of Rome.f 

* Chapt. ii. § 3. 

f In the middle ages, tlie free towns of Italy and Germany had a population 



Chap. III. TARQUINIUS PRISCUS. 43 

And as the great addition is reputed to have taken place in the 
reign of Ancus, he was held to be the father of the Plebs, and 
is (as we have before noted) represented by Virgil as exulting in 
popular applause. But yet he gave them no part in the State ; 
they lived like strangers at Rome, subject to no lord, as the 
Clients were, and yet, like them, without any rights or power as 
citizens. 

§ 7. Now Tarquinius Priscus saw that, sooner or later, these 
families of the Commons must gain power in the State. Many 
of them Avere rich; many of them had been noble in the old 
Latin cities from which they had been brought to Rome, or in 
those which had become subject to Rome, Tarquin therefore 
determined to raise a certain number of these plebeian families 
to patrician rank, just as Tullus had raised many of the Alban 
families. He proposed to do this by doubling the number of 
the Patrician Tribes, so that they should be six instead of three. 
The three new Tribes were to be made up of Plebeian Gentes, 
and were to be called after himself and his chief friends. 

§ 8. But the citizens of the two old Patrician Tribes, the 
Ramnes and Titles, already angry at seeing the Luceres raised 
nearly to an equality with themselves, opposed this new plan 
most fiercely. There was a famous Titian augur, called Attus 
Navius, who came forward and plainly forbade the whole thing 
in the name of the gods. 

The story goes that Tarquin laughed at the augur, and 
bade him tell by his auguries whether what he then had 
in his mind was possible to be done. And when the augur 
said it was possible, then said the king, "I was thinking that 
• thou should' st cut this whetstone asunder with a razor : now let 
me see whether thy auguries will help thee." Whereupon Attus 
took the razor and cut the whetstone asunder. At this the king 
greatly marvelled, and promised that he would not disobey the 
gods. 

§ 9. But though Tarquin no longer thought of making new 
Patrician Tribes with new names, he did what in reality came to 
the same thing; for he added his favourite Plebeian Gentes to 
each of the three Tribes, so that each Tribe consisted of two 
parts — the Old Ramnes and the New, the Old Titles and the 

or privileged Cittadini or Burgesses, corresponding to tlie Roman Patricians 
These had their Vassals or Clients. And besides these two classes, there was 
always a numerous class who were neither Burgesses nor Dependents. In 
Germany these Plebeians were called Pfahlbtirger, or Burgesses of the Pale, 
because they were allowed to live within the pale of the city, but not lo enjoy 
any civic rights. They very much corresponded to the Proselytes of the Gate 
among the Jews. See Niebuhr. 



44 ROME UNDEE THE KINGS. . Book I. 

New, the Old Luceres and tlie New,* and there were in reality six 
Patrician Tribes, though they bore only three names as before ; 
and the new Patricians were called the Fathers of the Younger 
Clans, Patres Minorum Oentium.\ 

Thus the chief Plebeians were numbered among the Patrician 
families, and became part and parcel of the Populus or Body 
Politic of Rome ; and were entitled to vote in the Comitia Curiata. 
But the mass of the Plebeians remained, as of old, excluded from 
all share in the State. 

Tarquinius also doubled the centuries of Knights. Once they 
had been doubled by Tullus, so they were two hundred in each 
century or squadron, and six hundred in all. After the addition 
made by Tarquinius they amounted to twelve hundred The new 
Centuries retained the old names, just as in the Tribes the Old 
and New Ramnes, and so on ; and no doubt they were enrolled 
from the New Tribes. 

§ 10. When Tarquin had thus attached the Plebeians to the 
state, by raising some and giving hopes to all, he led forth his 
army against the Sabines. He conquered them, and took their 
town Collatia, which he gave in charge to his nephew Egerius 
(the Needy), who was so called because he was left destitute to 
the charge of his uncle Tarquin. The son of Egerius took the 
name of Collatinus. 

He also made war against the cities of Latium, which had not 
been conquered by Ancus Martins. And he was so successful in 
his wars and treaties, that all the old Latin communities sub- 
mitted to Rome as their sovereign state. 

His authority was also recognised by many of his Etruscan 
compatriots; and he is said first to have introduced at Rome the 
Etruscan ensigns of royal dignity, the golden crown and sceptre, 
the ivory chair, and the robe striped with violet colour. 

§ 11. But what made the reign of Tarquinius Priscus most 
famous were the great works by which he improved the city. 
The bounds of the Roman Forum had already been fixed in part 
by the buildings of Numa and Tullus Hostilius. But Tarquin 
completed them for ever by building booths or shops along the 
northern and southern sides.J And in the valley between the 

* "Eanrnes primi et secundi," etc. 

■j- Livy and others tell us that Tarquin only doubled the Centuries of 
Knights. But this (no doubt) is an error arising from the three Centuries 
of Knights bearing the same name with the three patrician Tribes. Festus 
(p. 169) says: " Gum Tarquinius Priscus institutas Tribus a Eomulo mutare 
vellet" etc.; and p. 344, "civitas Romana in sex est distrihuta partes, irir 
primos secundosque Titienses, Ramnes, Luceresy Cf also Dionys. (iii. 71, 72), 
who speaks of (pvlal iKmuv, thus confounding the two accounts. 

:j: Those on the northern side were rebuilt first, and hence were called 



Chap. III. TARQUINIUS PRISCUS. 45 

Palatine and Aventine lie formed the Circus Maximus, or great 
race-course for the celebration of the Roman or Great Games. 

He. also vowed a temple to Jupiter on the Saturuian Hill, and 
began to level the ground at the lower extremity, where it bore 
the name of the Tarpeian Hill. But this great building was re- 
served for another to complete. 

One remarkable work remains to be mentioned, which even 
to the present day preserves the memory of Tarquin. This 
was the Cloaca Maxima, or great drain, which ran from the 
valley of the Circus Maximus, and joined the Tiber below the 
island. The purpose of this great work was to . carry off the 
waters which collected in stagnant pools in the ground to the 
west of the Palatine Hill, which was known by the name of 
the Yelabrum. But its size and execution bear witness to the 
power and greatness of the monarch who planned it. It is 
formed in a semicircular vault, measuring nearly fourteen feet 
in diameter, and consists of three concentric arches, each com- 
posed of hewn blocks of hard volcanic stone.* Where it enters 
the river, the quay is formed by a wall of the same kind of 
masonry.f So admirable is the workmanship, that at the present 
day, though the stones are kept in their place simply by their 
own weight, without mortar or cement, not one block has been 
displaced in the part of it which has been explored, and a 
knife-blade can hardly be inserted between the joints.;]; Similar 
works are found among the ruined cities of ancient Etruria ; and 
from that country doubtless came the artificers capable of execut- 
ing such a work.JI 

§ 12. The legend of Tarquin's death is one of the most famous 
in the early Eoman annals. It runs thus. He had a favourite 
called Servius Tullius, a young man whom some said Avas born of 
a female Latin slave taken at Corniculum ; whereas others said 

Tabemse Novae, while those on the south side retained the name of Tabernsa 
Yeteres, even to Cicero's time. Academ. iv. 22: " Ut ii qui sub Nbvis [sc. 
Tabernis] solem non ferunt . . ., Veterum . . . umbram secutus est." 

* A kind of tophus or tufa, found near Rome, according to Brocchi (quoted 
by Dr. Arnold). 

•j- This wall is almost concealed by a facing of later brick-work, as is 
shown in the woodcut at the head of this chapter. 

X Another Cloaca from the great Cloaca under the Forum was discovered 
by excavations in the year 1'742. This is probably the drain ahuded to by 
Juvenal (Sat. v. 104), when he speaks of a fish 

" pinguis torrente cloaca, 
Et sohtus medise cryptam penetrare Suburae." 
But it appears to be built of travertine, a soft limestone from the neighbour- 
hood of Tivoli, which was not used till a late period in Roman buildings. — 
Niebuhr, vol. i. p. 392. 

I See the woodcut at the close of the chapter. 



46 EOME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. 

lie was no Latin but an Etruscan called Mastarna, who had 
come to Rome, like Tarquin himself, and assumed a Latin 
name.* Servius had the same plans as Tarquin himself, and 
, afterwards (as we shall see) executed much Avhich that King 
was unable to perform, whence we may conclude that he was 
either a Lucerian or a member of one of the Latin houses which 
had lately been raised to Patrician rank. Now it was thought 
that this young man would most likely be chosen King, when 
Tarquinius was dead. Whereupon the sons of Ancus Martins, 
who had borne patiently the reign of Tarquin, resolved that they 
would seize the crown ; and probably they were urged on by 
their brethren the Titles and others of the older Gentes, who 
could not bear that another upstart should be King. So they 
procured two countrymen, who pretended- to have a quarrel, and 
came before the King as if to seek for judgment ; and while one 
of them was speaking, the other smote the King on the head with 
an axe, so that he fell dead. But the lictors seized the murderers; 
and Tanaquil the Queen shut up the palace, and gave out that 
the King was not dead, but only wounded. Then she sent for 
Servius Tullius, and exhorted him to assume the royal robe, and 
go forth with the lictors in kingly state to judge ca,uses in the 
King's name. Thus Tarquinius Priscus died after a reign of eight- 
and-thirty years. And after a time his death was made known, 
and Servius Tullius became King in his place, without being regu- 
larly chosen by the Assembly of the Curise. 

§ 13. Servius Tullius was the best and wisest of all the Kings, 
and his reign is a history of the greatest changes that took place 
among the Roman people during the whole time of the kingly 
government. His wars were few, though we hear that he overcame 
the people of Veil and other Etruscan cities. His chief glory 
came from his new institutions for the good government of the 
people, which in a manner completed what Tarquinius Priscus had 
begun. 

§ 14. We have already spoken of the growth of the Plebs or 
Commons, a third class, belonging neither to the Patricians nor 
the Clients : and shown how Tarquinius raised the richest and 
most powerful houses of this class to be members of the Patrician 
Tribes. But still the mass of the Plebs continued to live as before 
upon the Aventine, without having art or part in the affairs of 
the Roman People. The Populus or Body Politic still consisted 

* The Etruscan legend, which makes Mastarna or Servius a comrade of 
Cables Vibenna, rests on tlie authority of a speech of the Emperor Claudius, 
whicli was inscribed on a brass tablet, and is now preserved (though so placed 
that no one can read it) in the Museum at Lyons. 



Chap. III. . SERVIUS TULLIUS. 47 

only of Patricians ; bnt the Plebeians were every clay increasing in 
numbers and wealth, and it was to be feared that if they were 
much longer shut out from all part in public affairs, they might 
rise against the Patricians and take by force what they could not 
get as a free gift, and so the Aventine would become the chief 
place of Rome instead of the Palatine, 

Servius took measures to guard against this danger by admitting 
the Plebeians into full citizenship, and made them in great mea- 
sure equal to their Patrician brethren. The way he took was this. 

§ 15. It was not proposed to raise the plebeian families to 
patrician rank and make them members of the Curiae, but to 
create a new popular Assembly which was to include all the citi- 
zens, Patricians and Plebeians alike. The whole form, divisions, 
and nature of this assembly was military. It was called the 
Exercitus ; it met in the field of Mars outside the city ; the 
members of it appeared in the arms of their respective divisions, 
and gave their votes in the same manner. Of this we shall find 
full proof as we go on. 

But it was not all free Romans who were admitted even into 
this Assembly. A great division was made between those who 
had independent means of living (locupletes or assidui *), and 
those who had no sufiicient property (proletarii). The former 
were required to have at least 11,000 ases' worth of land or house 
property, and these alone were included in the new Assembly of 
Servius. 

The locupletes appeared in the Assembly in five great Classes, 
or armed bodies, which were distinguished by their Census or 
amount of rateable property in land ; the richest formed the 
First Class, the next richest the Second Class, and so on. Then 
each of the five Classes were subdivided into a number of Cen- 
turies or companies, of which one half consisted of juniors, or 
men within the age of military service (17 to 45), the other half 
of seniors, or men between 45 and 60.f The First Class ap- 
peared in full armour, offensive and defensive ; the Second Class 
was less completely armed, and so on till we come to the Fifth 
Class, which wore no defensive armour, and served as light troops, 
slingers, archers, and the like. 

At the head of the five Classes stood the Horsemen or Knights 

* Assiduus is said to be derived ah asse dando, because all who were included 
in the Classes had to pay the tax. 

f Occasional service might be required of the Seniors. After 60 they 
were superannuated. And, as they could not serve, neither could they vote in 
the Centuriate Assembly; a strange provision, that was in force in Cicero's 
time. See his oration pro Sext. Roscio Amerino, c. 35. Such old men 
(sexagenarii) were therefore called depontani, because they could not pass the 
gangway (^pons) which led into the voting-booth {omle\ 



48 



ROME UNDER THE KINGS. 



Book L 



(equites). Servius found six Centuries already existing, each con- 
taining 200 men, as they had been left by Tarquinius Priscus, and 
all these six Centuries were Patricians, as has been shown. To 
these Servius added twelve Centuries more, the members of which 
were chosen from the best Plebeian families. These were the 
horsemen of the army, amounting in all to 3600 men. They were 
allowed a horse at the public expense, with a certain yearly sum 
for maintaining it. 

Besides these there were two Centuries of carpenters and 
smiths (fabri tignarii et serarii) for engineering purposes, with 
three of .trumpeters and horn-blowers. The former, being skil- 
ful workmen", were thought worthy of being associated with the 
first Class; the latter belonged to the fifth. The Proletarians 
also were thrown into a single century and added to the fifth 
Class.* 

Such was the celebrated assembly known by the name of the 
CoMiTiA Centuriata, or General Assembly of the Centuries. 

§ 16. The Census or assessment of property in the above mili- 
tary classification was made solely with regard to land and all that 
we call real property. No account was taken of slaves, cattle, pre- 
cious metals, furniture, and all that we call personalty, till a much 
later period. 

The purpose of this Census was twofold : first, to raise a tri- 

* The subjoined table will make it easy to perceive these arrangements at 
a glance, as they are given by Livy: 



Sec'd Clasa 
Third Class 
Fo'rth Class 



fifth Class 



Census, or Rateable 
Property in Land. 



Equites 

All haTing 100,000) 

ases and upwards 3 

Fabri 



75,000 ases and up- ? 

wards ■ ■ - ) 

50,000 ases and up- ) 

wards 5 

25,000 ases and up-) 

wards 5 

11,000 ases and up-"! 

wards (more pro- ! 

bably 12,500, as f 

Dionysius says) -J 

Trumpeters 

Capite Censi, or Pro- ) 

letarii S 



6 Patrician-f 12 Plebeian=18 
40 Seniores-f40 Juniores=80 } 100 
2 



10 Seniores-flO Juniores= 20 

10 Seniores-flO Jumores= 20 

10 Seniores-1-10 Jumores' 



•I 



15 Seniores4-15 Juniores=30 



U 



Defensive. Offensive. 




Helmet (?; 



i Sword and 



i Sword and 
; spear. 

; Sword and 
I spear. 
I Spear and 
1 javelin. 



Slings, etc. 



The whole number of Centuries, therefore, was 194; and in the First 
Class alone there are more than half 

The Centuries of cornicines, tubicines, &c., were called accensi, because 
they were added to the list of censi. 

The single century of proletarii were called capite censi, because they were 
counted by the head, and not rated by their property. Later, however, the 
proletarii and capite censi were distinguished, the former being those who 
possessed appreciable property of less amount than 11,000 ases. 



Ckap. III. SERVIUS TULLIUS. 49 

butum or tax for military expenses, of which we shall speak in 
a future page ; and secondly, to serve certain political ends, of 
which we will speak here. It is manifest that Servius, when 
he admitted the Plebeians to political power, did not contem- 
plate anything like the equality of a democracy. He intended 
that all the citizens of the Classes should have votes, but that 
their votes should avail only in proportion to their landed pro- 
perty. The wealthy were sure to have the preponderance ; for 
if the Centuries of the Knights and the other centuries of the 
first Class, even without the Fabri, agreed together, they could 
outvote the centuries of all the other Classes put together. More- 
over, great weight was given to age. It is certain that in each 
Class the seniores, or those between the age of 45 and 60, must 
have been far less numerous than the juniors ; yet in each Class 
they formed an equal number of centuries. The number of 
seniors in each of the 40 Centuries of the first Class, thinned 
alike by age and rate of property, must have been comparatively 
very few. 

§ 17. But though safeguards so many and so great were pro- 
vided in favour of property, the new assembly of Servius con- 
ferred a great and positive boon on the Plebeians. It must be 
remembered that before his time they Avere outside the Populus 
or Body Politic altogether. They were still excluded from the 
Curiae or Assembly of the Patricians ; and so far as this involved 
political rights, the name of Populus was still confined to the 
old Burgesses. But in reality the Plebs became members of the 
Populus ; for the new Centuriate Assembly slowly but surely 
assumed to itself all the political rights which had formerly be- 
longed to the Curiate Assembly alone ; and though it is probable 
that all laws proposed in the former must receive the sanction 
of the latter (as bills brought forward in the House of Commons 
must pass through the House of Lords), and also must be autho- 
rised by the Senate, which was at this time exclusively patrician, 
in time these powers were cancelled, and the Centuriate Assembly 
became the supreme legislative body of the state.* 

§ 18. But Servius was not satisfied with merely giving the 
Plebeians a place in the Body Politic. He also made regulations 
which related to the well-being of the Plebeians alone, without 
reference to the Patricians. 

By the conquests of the preceding Kings Eome had gained 
large acquisitions of territory in Latium, and some probably on 
the Etruscan side of the Tiber. Numa had divided the original 

* The intention of the change was somewhat the same as that wrought by 
Solon at Athens, who is said to have changed an okiyaoxia into a TifioKparla. 
See Dr. Smith's Hist, of Greece, p. 9*7. 

3 



50 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. 

lands of tlie state into pagi. But tliese had become quite unequal 
to the altered condition of things ; and Servius now distributed 
the whole Roman territory, as he found it, into a number of 
Tribes. These Tribes of Servius, then, were divisions of the soil, 
like our parishes or townships, and we must take especial care 
not to confound them with the Tribes of Romulus. It is indeed 
unfortunate that things so difierent should be called by the same 
name. The Tribes of Romulus were three in number : those of 
Servius were at least twenty. The Tribes of Romulus included 
the Patrician Burgesses only ; in the Tribes of Servius none were 
enrolled but Plebeians. The members of the Tribes of Romulus 
held their place in virtue of their Patrician birth, independently 
of their place of habitation ; those who belonged to the Tribes of 
Servius belonged to it because they had what we might call their 
" settlement" in some particular place. In one point only they 
were alike. A person who once belonged either to a Romulian 
Tribe of birth or a Servian Tribe of place, always remained a 
member of that Tribe, to whatever place he might remove his 
dwelling. It is probable, indeed, that there were means by which 
the members of the Servian Tribes might change their " settle-, 
ment," but nothing is known upon this subject. In each Tribe 
there were Presidents,* whose business it was to keep the list of 
the Tribe ; but they were not empowered to remove the name of 
any person on the list simply because he had ceased to reside in 
the district belonging to the Tribe. 

§ 19. Of these Tribes four were in the city and the rest outside 
the limits of the city. The four city Tribes were 1. the Palatine ; 
2. the CoUine, answering to the Quirinal Hill ; 3. the Suburran, 
answering to the Cselian with its neighbouring valleys ; 4. the 
Esquiline, which shows that the Equiline Hill, together with 
the Viminal or seventh Hill, must have been already added to 
the city. It will be observed that neither the Saturnian Hill or 
Capitoline, nor the Aventine, were included within these Tribes. 
The former was omitted because it was, as it were, consecrated 
to military and religious purposes ; the latter because it never 
was included within the sacred limits of the Pomoerium, as will 
appear presently. 

§ 20. The Country Tribes were all named after patrician Gentes. 
The names of sixteen are preserved as existing at the time of 
the expulsion of the kings.f The first Tribe which bore a name 

* Galled sTTi/ueTiTiTal (j)v?iCJv by Dionysius. They were probably the same 
as the Tribuni aerarii, of whom we shall have to speak hereafter. 

\ These were, 1. Aemilia; 2. Cornelia; 3. Fabia; 4. Horatia; 5. Menenia;. 
•6. Papiria; 7. Sergia; 8. Yeturia; 9. Claudia; 10. *Camilia; 11. *Galeria; 
12. *Lemonia; 13. *Pollia; 14. *Pupima ; 15. *Romilia; 16. *Voltinia. The 



Chap. III. SERYIUS TULLIUS. 51 

not derived from a noble house was the Crustumine, Avhich was 
added under the Republic, and made the twenty-first Tribe. No 
doubt the noble House which bore the same name Avith these 
Ti'ibes consisted of the chief persons in these respective districts, 
just as in England great noblemen took their names from those 
counties in which their families once possessed almost sovereign 
power. 

§ 21. It is probable that at first none save the Plebeians were 
entered upon the lists of their respective Tribes ; and the Ple- 
beians, having thus received a kind of constitution of their own, 
used to meet in the Forum on market-days {nundince) to settle 
their own affairs. These meetings were called the Comitia Tri- 
BUTA, because the Commons gave their votes according to their 
Tribes, as at the Comitia Curiata votes were given according to 
Curiae, and at the Comitia Centuriata according to Centuries ; 
for it was an established custom at Rome not to vote in a mass 
and by the head ; but, first, the voters were distributed into 
smaller bodies, and then, in all cases, questions were determined 
by the majority of those bodies which voted for or against it. 

§ 22. Thus, then, the outline of the future Roman constitution 
was marked out. The Patricians met in their Curise in the Co- 
mitium at the high or narrow end of the Forum ; the Plebeians 
met in their Tribes in the low or broad end of the same famous 
piece of land ; the whole People, Patricians and Plebeians alike, met 
in the Field of Mars according to their Classes and Centuries. 

One of the chief tasks of Roman history is to trace the work- 
ing and development of those Assemblies under the control and 
direction of the Senate. We shall find the Patrician Assembly of 
the Curies, now supreme, gradually wane and become an empty 
name ; while the despised Assembly of the Plebeian- Tribes gra- 
dually engrosses power to itself, till at length it becomes the 
great legislative body of the State. Meanwhile the great Assem- 
bly of the Classes and Centuries undergoes changes and transmu- 
tations which much alter its character, and bring it into close 
neighbourhood with the popular assembly. But of this hereafter. 

names of most of these Tribes are familiar as the names of Patrician Gentes ; 
and it may be presumed that the seven unknown names (marked witli aster- 
isks) represent Gentes that liad become extinct. 

It has been generally assumed that Servius created Thirty Tribes in all, 
on the authority of Dionysius, iv. 14* 6ce11e 61 koI tijv x'^P^'" uiraaav, uq 
fisv ^djiLoq (pTjaiv, eig juoipag [i. e. pagos] i^ kol scKoatv, ug Kal avruQ KaT^eZ 
(/iv/ldf \i. e. tribus], kol tuc ugtikuc TzpoaTideig avralg TsTTapug, TpiuKovra 
(pvAug dfi(t>oTepov ettI TvAAiou Tug irdaag jevsadai 7^h/u. — But in the learned 
aud ingenious work by Mommsen, On the Roman Tribes (Altona, 1844), so 
much uncertainty is shown to prevail on this subject, that it is thought better 
to leave the question open. 



B2 



ROME UNDER THE KINGS. 



Book I. 



§ 23. To Servius Tullius also is attributed the great work of 
enlarging the Pomcerium of Eomulus. But while the original 
Pomoerium of the Palatine or Roman Quadrata was the same as 
its wall or line of defence, this rule was not observed by Servius. 
His new Pomoerium, which surrounded the four Tribes of the 
city, included only five of the seven hills ; for the Capitoline and 
Aventine were not admitted within the sacred inclosure : but his 
wall or line of fortification ran round all the Seven Hills. 



ROMA, 




1 ROMAN MILE. 



This will be a convenient opportunity to give some account 
of the city of Rome with its hills, walls, and gates. Ancient 
Rome stood on the left bank of the Tiber. A little to the north 
of _ the ancient city the river makes a sudden bend westward, till 
it is stopped and turned to the south-east again by the high ground 
sloping downwards from the Vatican Hill. Between these two 



Chap. III. SERVIUS TULLIUS. 53 

reaches of tlie river is inclosed a plain, anciently called the Campus 
Martins, on wliich stands the greater part of modern Rome. At 
the lower extremity of this plain, where the stream forms an 
island, called the Insula Tiberina, its course is again arrested and 
turned towards the south-west. This turn is caused by the abrupt 
rise of the eminence called in old times the Saturnian Hill, and 
still renowned under its later name of " the Capitol ;" and this 
shall be taken as the point from which we will survey the ancient 
city. 

The City, as bounded by the wall of Servius, may be likened to 
a fan, of which the Capitol forms the pivot. To this point con- 
verge, on the north, the Quirinal, Viminal, and Esquiline ; then 
the Palatine and Cajlian, lying* in the same line, nearly south- 
west ; and due south, abutting upon the river, the Aventine. 
The Quirinal, Viminal, and Esquiline run out like so many pro- 
montories towards the Capitol ; but they soon unite and sink 
gradually into the plain towards the west. 

Across the slope thus formed a great earth-bank and trench 
were carried, of which traces still remain. In its original state 
this embankment of Servius TuUius is said to have been 60 feet 
high and its base 50 feet broad, while the foss outside it was 
100 feet wide and 30 deep. From either end of this mound 
walls were built on all the low ground and across the valleys; 
but when these walls reached the edges or escarpments of the 
hills, which in those days were steep and high, no wall was 
needed. Thus from the northern end of the embankment the 
wall was carried to the steep edge of the Quirinal, where it 
ceased, and appeared again in the narrow valley between this 
hill and the Capitoline, and then was continued from the south- 
western corner of the Capitoline to the edge of the river. In 
like manner the wall was carried from the southern edge of 
the Esquiline across the valley which divides that hill from the 
Cselian ; then across the Cselian to its lower verge ; then across 
a second valley, and so quite round the Aventine to the river's 
edge, which it joined at a distance of little more than a quarter 
of an English mile from the point at which it started. This 
short space was faced by a quay, but was not considered to need 
a wall for its defence. 

The whole circuit thus inclosed measures about seven miles, 
and it remained without alteration for many centuries. Great 
suburbs grew up, and as Rome needed no fortifications till the 
times of the later emperors, the walls of Servius were suffered to 
decay, and no new line of fortification was formed till the days 
of Aurelian and Probus (a.d. 2Y0-282). 

The principal gates in the Avail of Servius were the Flumentane 



54 



EOME UNDER THE KINGS. 



BookL 



and the Carmental, between the river and the Capitol ; the Col- 
line, at the northern extremity of the Agger of Servius, and the 
Esquiline at its southern extremity ; the Cselimontane upon 
the Caelian ; the Capene or Capuan, where this hill slopes to- 
wards the Aventine ; and the Trigemina, between the Aventine 
and the river. The Sublician Bridge, which Ancus built to con- 
nect the city with the Janiculum, was just outside this gate, if 
the piles still remaining in the bed of the Tiber indicate its true 
position. But as it is little likely that the only bridge then ex- 
isting would be outside the walls, it may be assumed that the 
real position of the Pons Sublicius was between the points where 
the wall abuts upon the river. 

§ 24. We may here also notice a few of the places of chief im- 
portance in Roman history, which were inclosed within the wall 
of Servius. 

The low ground along the river, below the Capitoline, Palatine, 
and Aventine, drained by the Cloaca Maxima and protected by 
its quay, was the Forum Boarium or cattle market, the part im- 
mediately beneath the Palatine being the Velabrum. From the 
upper end of the Velabrum the Nova Via led over the Palatine 
to the Forum, while from its lower part the Vicus Tuscus ran 
in a parallel direction to the same quarter. 




A. Clivus Capitolinus. D. Prison, called TulUanum. G. Tribunal. 

B. Temple of Saturn. E. Rostra. H. Arch of Fabius. 

C. Temple of Concord. F. Senate-House. K. Temple of Vesta. 
L. Temple of Castor and Pollux. 



This is the quarter on which principal attention must be fixed. 
As you stand upon the Capitol and look eastward, beneath you 



Ch-\p. hi. SERYIUS TULLIUS. 55 

lies a piece of land of irregular shape, having its broader end 
beneath the Capitol itself, while its two sides converge towards 
the ridge called the Velia, Avhich connects the Palatine with 
the Esquiline, and was in after ages marked by the triumphal 
arch of Titus. The broader end, of Avhich we speak, measures 
about 190 feet, the narrower 100; the lower side about 630 feet, 
and the upper somewhat less. These measurements include 
both the Forum proper and the Comitium ; but the line of de- 
marcation between the meeting-places of the Plebeians and Patri- 
cians ran across at about 200 feet distance from the narrow end, 
and here stood the rostra, or place occupied by those who ad- 
dressed the people assembled beneath them. The Sacra Via, 
the most famous street of Rome, entered the Forum or Comi- 
tium at its south-eastern corner, passed along the narrow end, 
and then ran along the northern side, by the Curia Hostilia and 
the Tabernae Novse, till it reached the foot of the Capitoline. 
Here it met the famous Clivus Capitolinus, which led up by a 
steep ascent to the summit of the Capitol. When a general 
went up to offer thanksgiving to Jupiter, he descended from the 
Yelian ridge into the Forum, and then mounted by this ascent 
to the great temple on the Tarpeian, or lower height of the Capi- 
toline Hill. 

On the southern side of the Forum ran a street past the Temple 
of Vesta and the Regia of Numa, connecting the Nova Via with 
the Sacra Via. From the Forum to the Esquiline ran the Vicus 
Cyprius, the upper part of which was called the Vicus Sceleratus, 
in memory of the murder of King Servius, of which we are to 
speak presently. This street probably led through the Subura or 
populous quarter, which lay in the low ground between the Esqui- 
line, Viminal, and Quirinal Hills, to the Carinee, which was after- 
wards the most fashionable part of Rome, and lay on the edge of 
the Esquiline next the Velia. 

§ 25. Besides enlarging and strengthening the city, Servius 
&lso endeavoured to form an enduring alliance with the whole 
Latin nation, who had been so much weakened by the wars of 
the former kings. He built a temple to the great Latin goddess 
Diana upon the Aventine, and here were to be held sacrifices 
and festivals common both to Rome and Latium. The Sabines 
also, as it seems, desired to share in this alliance, but not on equal 
terms. There was, so runs the legend, a cow of noble form 
and surpassing beauty, which belonged to a Sabine householder : 
whoever, said the soothsayers, first sacrificed this animal in the 
new-built temple of Diana, should hold sway over Rome. The 
Sabine owner brought his cow to ofi"er her on the Aventine. But 
the Roman sacrificing priest bade him first purify himself by 



56 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. 

bathing in the Tiber, and then cunningly himself completed the 
sacrifice. 

§ 20. It remains only to add the famous legend of the death of 
Ihe good King Servius. 

He had assumed kingly power without the consent of the patri- 
cian Curiae, and he had afterwards sought confirmation of his title, 
not from this proud assembly, but the new assembly of the Classes 
and Centuries which he had created. It is said, moreover, that 
when he had finished his reforms he had it in his mind to resign 
the kingly power altogether, and leave his great Assembly to elect 
two chief magistrates to govern in his stead. But this purpose 
was not accomplished. He continued to reign till he was mur- 
dered, like King Tarquinius before him. 

From the two sons of King Ancus there was nothing to fear. 
But Tarquinius Priscus had also two sons, Lucius and Aruns, and 
Servius had two daughters. So he married these two daughters 
to the two young Tarquins, that they might become his succes- 
sors, and might not be jealous of a stranger sitting in their father's 
seat. Now Lucius Tarquinius was a proud and violent youth, but 
his brother Aruns was mild and good. So also the eldest daughter 
of King Servius was gentle, but her sister was ambitious and cruel. 
Servius therefore took care that Lucius, the violent brother, should 
be married to the good sister, aiid Aruns, the good brother, to the 
bad sister ; for he hoped that the good might prevail over the evil 
and subdue it. But the event proved otherwise. The lamb will 
not lie down with the wolf, nor the hawk couple with the dove. 
Therefore Lucius and the younger Tullia conspired together ; and 
Lucius murdered his wife, and Tullia murdered her husband ; and 
then they married together, so that the two wicked ones were 
free to work their will. 

Lucius Tarquin soon resolved to make an end of King Servius. 
So he conspired with the Patricians, and chiefly with those of the 
new Gentes, whom his father had raised ; and when he thought he 
was strong enough, he came into the Comitium and took his seat 
upon the throne in front of the senate-house, and summoned the 
Patricians to attend on " King Tarquinius." But when King Ser- 
vius heard of it he came forth and asked how any one dared sit 
on the throne while he was alive. But Lucius said it was his 
father's throne, and that now it was his own by right. Then he 
seized the old man by the waist and cast him down the steps of the 
throne, and he himself entered into the senate-house. Servius, 
when he saw that all were against him, endeavoured to escape 
homewards; but certain men, sent by Lucius, overtook him and 
slew him, and left his body lying in the way. 

And when Tullia heard what was done, she mounted her chariot 



Chap. III. 



SERVIUS TULLIUS. 



and drove to the Forum and saluted lier husband king. But lie 
bade ber go borne, for sucb scenes were not fit for women. And 
sbe came to tbe foot of the Esquiline Hill, to the place wbere tbe 
body of ber father lay in the way. And when the charioteer saw 
it be was shocked, and pulled in his horses that be might not drive 
over the body. But his wicked mistress chid him angrily and 
bade liim drive on. So she went home " with her father's blood 
upon ber chariot-wheels ;" and that place was called the Wicked 
Street ever after. 

So King Servius died when be had reigned four and forty years, 
and Lucius Tarquinius the Proud reigned in his stead. 




Cloaca of Marta in Tuscany. 




Tomb of the Tarquins. 



CHAPTEE IV. 



TABQUINIUS SUPERBUS, AND THE BEGINNING OF THE REPUBLIC. 



§ 1. Despotism of second Tarquin. § 2. Alliance with Etruscans and Latins. 
§ 3. Temple on Capitoline. § 4. Legend of Sibyl. § 5. Stratagem by 
■wHcli Gabii was taken. § 6. King's sons, "with Binatus, sent to consult 

' the Delphic Oracle. § T. Legend of Lucretia. Expulsion of Tarquins. 
§ 8. Consuls. § 9. Patres Conscripti. § 10. Hex. Sacrorum. § 11. First 
attempt to restore Tarquin. Judgment of Brutus. § 12. Second attempt 
by Etruscans of Tarquinii and Veii. Death of Brutus. § 13. P. Valerius 
Poplicola. §14. Consecration of Capitoline Temple by M. Horatius. §15. 
Third attempt to restore Tarquin. Porsenna. Legends of Horatius Codes, 
Mucins ScEevola, Cloeha. § 16. Tarquin at Tusculum. § 17. First Dictator. 
§ 18. Fourth attempt to restore Tarquin by Latins. Battle of Lake Eegil- 
lus. § 19. Death of Tarquin at Cumae. 

§ 1. Tarquin had made liimself king by the aid of the Patricians, 
and chiefly by means of the third or Lucerian tribe, to which his 
family belonged. The Burgesses of the Gentes were indignant at 
the cm'tailment of their privileges by the popular reforms of Ser- 
vius, and were glad to lend themselves to any overthrow of his 
power. But Tarquin soon kicked away the ladder by which he 
had risen. He abrogated, it is true, the hated Assembly of 



Chap. IV. TARQUmiUS SUPERBUS. 59 

tlie Centuries; but neitlier did lie pay any heed to the Curiatc 
Assembly, nor did he allow any new members to be chosen into 
the Senate in place of those who were removed by death or other 
causes ; so that even those who had helped him to the throne re- 
pented them of their deed. The name of Superbus, or the Proud, 
testifies to the general feeling against the despotic rule of the 
second Tarquin. 

§ 2. It was by foreign alliances that he calculated on supporting 
his despotism at home. The Etruscans of Tarquinii, and all its 
associate cities Avere his friends ; and among the Latins also he 
sought to raise a power which might counterbalance the senate 
and people of Rome. 

The wisdom of Tarquinius Priscus and Servius had vmited all 
the Latin name to Rome, so that Rome had become the sovereign 
city of Latium. The last Tarquin drew those ties still closer. He 
gave his daughter in marriage to Octavius Mamilius, Chief of Tus- 
culum, and favoured the Latins in all things. But at a general 
assembly of the Latins at the Ferentinc Grove, beneath the Alban 
Mount, where they had been accustomed to meet of olden time to 
settle their national affairs, Turnus Herdonius of Aricia rose and 
spoke against him. Then Tarquinius accused him of high treason, 
and brought false Avitnesses against him ; and so powerful with 
the Latins was the King that they condemned their countryman 
to be drowned in the Ferentine Avater, and obeyed Tarquinius in 
all things. 

§ 3. With them he made war upon the Volscians and took the 
city of Suessa, wherein was a great booty. This booty he applied 
to the execution of great Avorks in the city, in emulation of his 
father and King Servius. The elder Tarquin had built up the side 
of the Tarpeian rock and levelled the summit, to be the founda- 
tion of a temple of Jupiter, but he had not completed the work. 
Tarquinius Supei'bus noAv removed all the temples and shrines of 
the old Sabine gods Avhich had been there since the time of Titus 
Tatius; but the goddess of Youth and the god Terminus kept 
their place, Avhereby was signified that the Roman people should 
enjoy undecaying vigour, and that the boundaries of their empire 
should never be draAvn in. And on the Tarpeian height he built 
a magnificent temple, to be dedicated jointly to the three great 
gods of the Latins and Etruscans, Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva ; and 
this part of the Saturnian Hill Avas ever after called the Capitol 
or the Chief Place, Avhile the upper part was called the Arx or 
Citadel* 

He brought architects from Etruria to plan the temple, but he 
forced the Roman people to work for him Avithout hire. 
* See Chapt. i. § 7. 



4- 



60 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. 

§ 4. One day a strange woman appeared before the King and 
offered liiui uine books to buy ; and when lie refused them she 
went away and burnt three of the nine books, and brought back 
the remaining six and offered to sell them at the same price that 
she had asked for the nine ; and when he laughed at her and 
again refused, she went as before and burnt three more books, 
and came back and asked still the same price for the three that 
\Tere left. Then the King was struck by her pertinacity, and he 
consulted his augurs Avhat this might be ; and they bade him by 
all means buy the three, and said he had done wrong not to buy 
the nine, for these were the books of the Sibyl and contained 
great secrets. So the books were kept underground in the Ca- 
pitol in a stone chest, and two men (duumviri) were appointed 
to take charge of them, and consult them when the state was in 
danger. 

§ 5. The only Latin town that defied Tarquin's power was 
Gabii ; and Sextus, the king's youngest son, promised to win 
this place also for his father. So he fled from Rome and pre- 
sented himself at Gabii ; and there he made complaints of his 
father's tyranny and prayed for protection. The Gabians be- 
lieved him, and took him into their city, and they trusted him, 
so that in time he was made commander of their army. Now 
his father suffered him to conquer in many small battles, and 
the Gabians trusted him more and more. Then he sent pri- 
vately to his father, and asked Avhat he should do to make the 
Gabians submit. Then King Tarquin gave no answer to the 
messenger, but, as he walked up and down his garden, he kept 
cutting off the heads of the tallest poppies with his staff. At 
last the messenger was tired, and went back to Sextus and told 
him what had passed, But Sextus understood what his father 
meant, and he began to accuse falsely all the chief men, and some 
of them he put to death and some he banished. So at last the 
city of Gabii was left defenceless, and Sextus delivered it up to 
his father,* 

§ 6. While Tarquin was building his temple on the Capitol, a 
strange portent offered itself; for a snake came forth and de- 
voured the sacrifices on the altar. The king, not content with 
the interpretation of his Etruscan soothsayers, sent persons to 
consult the famous oracle of the Greeks at Delphi, and the per- 
sons he sent were his own sons Titus and Aruns, and his sister's 
son, L. Junius, a young man who, to avoid his uncle's jealousy, 
feigned to be without common sense, wherefore he was called 
Brutus or the Dullard. The answer given by the oracle was, 

* It is well known that this Legend occurs in Herodotus, who relates that 
Babylon was betrayed to Darius Hystaspes in a similar manner, iii. 154, sqq. 



Chap. IY. TARQUINIUS SUPBRBUS. 61 

that the chief power of Rome should belong to him of the three 
who should first kiss his mother ; and the two sons of King Tar- 
quin agreed to draw lots which of them should do this as soon as 
they returned home. But Brutus perceived that the oracle had 
another sense ; so as soon as they landed in Italy he fell down on 
the ground as if he had stumbled, and kissed the earth, for she (he 
thought) was the true mother of all mortal things. 

§ Y. When the sons of Tarquin returned with their cousin, L. 
Junius Brutus, they found the king at war with the Rutulians of 
Ardea. Being unable to take the place by storm, he was forced 
to blockade it ; and while the Roman army was encamped before 
the town the young men used to amuse themselves at night with 
wine and wassail. One night there was a feast, at which Sextus, 
the king's third son, was present, as also CoUatinus, the son of 
Egerius, the king's uncle, who had been made governor of Col- • 
latia. So they soon began to dispute about the worthiness of their < 
wives ; and when each maintained that his own wife was worthiest, 
" Come, gentlemen," said Collatinus, " let us take horse and see 
what our wives are doing ; they expect us not, and so we shall 
know the truth." All agreed, and th^y galloped to Rome, and 
there they found the wives of all the others feasting and revelling : 
but Avheu they came to CoUatia they found Lucretia, the wife of 
Collatinus, not making merry like the rest, but sitting in the midst 
of her handmaids carding wool and spinning ; so they all allowed 
that Lucretia was the worthiest. 

Now Lucretia was the daughter of a noble Roman, Spurius Lu- 
cretius, who was at this time Prefect of the city ; for it was the 
custom, when the kings went out to war, that they left a chief man 
at home to administer all things in the king's name, and he was 
called Prefect of the City. 

But it chanced that Sextus, the king's son, when he saw the 
fair Lucretia, was smitten with lustful passion ; and a few days 
after he came again to CoUatia, and Lucretia entertained him 
hospitably as her husband's cousin and friend. But at midnight 
he arose and came with stealthy steps to her bedside : and hold- 
ing a sword in his right hand, and laying his left hand upon her 
breast, he bade her yield to his wicked desires; for if not, he 
would slay her and lay one of her slaves beside her, and would 
declare that he had taken them in adultery. So for shame she 
consented to that which no fear would have wrung from her : 
and Sextus, having Avrought this deed of shame, returned to the 
camp. 

Then Lucretia sent to Rome for her father, and to the camp 
at Ardea for her husband. They came in haste. Lucretius 
brought with him P. Valerius, and Collatinus brought L. Junius 



62 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I; 

Brutus, his cousin. And they came in and asked if all was well. 
Then she told them what was done : " but," she said, " my body 
only has suffered the shame, for my will consented not to the 
deed. Therefore," she cried, " avenge me on the wretch Sextus. 
As for me, though my heart has not sinned, I can live no longer. 
No one shall say that Lucretia set an example of living in un- 
chastity." So she drew forth a knife and stabbed herself to the 
heart. 

When they saw that, her father and her husband cried aloud ; 
but Brutus drew the knife from the wound, and holding it up, 
spoke thus : " By this pure blood I swear before the gods that I 
will pursue L. Tarquinius the Proud and all his bloody house 
with fire, sword, or in whatsoever way I may, and that neither 
they nor any other shall hereafter be King in Rome." Then he 
gave the knife to CoUatinus and Lucretius and Valerius, and they 
all swore likewise, much marvelling to hear such words from 
L. Junius the Dullard. And they took up the body of Lucretia, 
and carried it into the Forum, and called on the men of CoUatia 
to rise against the tyrant. So they set a guard at the gates of 
the town, to prevent any news of the matter being carried to 
King Tarquin : and they themselves, followed by the youth of 
Collatia, went to Rome. Here Brutus, who was Chief Captain 
of the Knights,* called the people together , and he told them 
what had been done, and called on them by the deed of shame 
wrought against Lucretius and CoUatinus — by all that they had 
suffered from the tyrants — by the abominable murder of good 
King Servius — to assist them in taking vengeance on the Tar- 
quins. So it was hastily agreed to banish Tarquinius and his 
family. The youth declared themselves ready to follow Brutus 
against the King's army, and the seniors put themselves under 
the rule of Lucretius, the Prefect of the City. In this tumult, the 
wicked Tullia fled from her house, pursued by the curses of all 
men, who prayed that the avengers of her father's blood might be 
upon her. 

"When the King heard what had passed, he set off" in all haste 
for the city. Brutus also set off for the camp at Ardea ; and he 
turned aside that he might not meet his uncle the King. So he 
came to the camp at Ardea, and the King came to Rome. And 
all the Romans at Ardea Avelcomed Brutus, and joined their arms 
to his, and thrust out all the King's sons from the camp. But 
the people of Rome shut the gates against the King, so that he 
could not enter. And King Tarquin, with his sons Titus and 
Aruns, went into exile and lived at Caere in Etruria. But Sextus 

* Tribunus Celerura. 



Chap. IV. EXPULSION OF TARQUIN. 63 

fled to Gabii, -where he had before held rule, and the people of 
Gabii slew him in memory of his former cruelty. 

So L. Tarquinius Superbus was expelled from Rome, after he had 
been King tive-and-twenty years. And in memory of this event 
was instituted a festival called the Regifugium or Fugalia, which 
was celebrated every year on the 24th day of February.* 

§ 8. To gratify the Plebeians, the Patricians consented to re- 
store, in some measure at least, the popular institutions of King 
Servius ; and it was resolved to follow his supposed intention with 
regard to the supreme government — that is, to have two Magis- 
trates elected every year, who were to have the same power as the 
King during the time of their rule. These were in after days 
known by the name of Consuls ; but in ancient times they were 
called Praetors or Judges (Judices). They were elected at the 
great Assembly of the Centuries ; and they had sovereign power 
(imperium) conferred upon them by the Assembly of the Curies. 
They wore a robe edged with violet colour, sat in their chairs of 
state called curule chairs, and Avere attended by twelve lictors each. 
These lictors carried fasces, or bundles of rods, out of which arose , 
an axe, in token of the power of life and death possessed by the ~^ 
Consuls as successors of the Kings. But only one of them at a 
time had a right to this power ; and in token thereof, his colleague's 
fasces had no axes in them. Each retained this mark of sovereign 
power (imperium) for a month at a time. 

The first Consuls were L. Junius Brutus and L. Tarquinius Col- 
latinus. 

§ 9. The new Consuls filled up the Senate to the proper num- 
ber of three hundred ; and the new Senators were called Con- 
ecripti, while the old members retained their old name of Patres. 
So after this the whole Senate was addressed by speakers as 
" Patres, Conscript!" (?'. e. Patres et Conscripti). But in later times 
it was forgotten that these names belonged to different sorts of 
persons, and the whole Senate was addressed as by one name, 
"Patres Conscripti." 

§ 10. The name of King was hateful. But certain sacrifices 
had always been performed by the King in person ; and there- 
fore, to keep up the form, a person was still chosen, with the 
title of Rex Sacrorum or Rex Sacrificulus, to perform these ofter- 
ings. But even he was placed under the authority of the Chief 
Pontifex. 

§ 11. After his expulsion. King Tarquin sent messengers to 

Rome to ask that his property should be given up to him, and 

the Senate decreed that his prayer should be granted. But 

the King's ambassadors, while they were in Rome, stirred up the 

* Ovid, FasH, ii. 286. 



64 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. :B00K I. 

minds of the young men and others who had been favoured by 
Tarquin, so that a plot was made to bring him back. Among 
those who plotted were Titus and Tiberius, the sons of the Consul 
Brutus ; and they gave letters to the messengers of the King. But 
it chanced that a certain slave hid himself in the place where they 
met, and overheard them plotting ; and he came and told the 
thing to the Consuls, who seized the messengers of the King with 
the letters upon their persons, authenticated by the seals of the. 
young men. The culprits were immediately arrested ; but the 
ambassadors were let go, because their persons were regarded as 
sacred. And the goods of King Tarquin were given up for plun- 
der to the people. 

Then the traitors were brought up before the Consuls, and the 
sight was such as to move all beholders to pity ; for among them 
were the sons of L. Junius Brutus himself, the First Consul, the 
liberator of the Roman people. And now all men saw how Brutus 
loved his country ; for he bade the lictors put all the traitors to 
death, and his ov/n sons first ; and men could mark in his face the 
struggle between his duty as a chief magistrate of Rome and his 
feelings as a father. And while they praised and admired him, 
they pitied him yet more.* 

Then a decree of the Senate was made that no one of the blood 
of the Tarquins should remain in Rome. And since CoUatinus, 
the Consul, was by descent a Tarquin, even he was obliged to give 
up his office and return to Collatia. In his room, P. Valerius was 
chosen Consul by the people. 

This was the first attempt to restore Tarquin the Proud. 

§ 12. When Tarquin saw that the plot at home had failed, he 
prevailed on the people of Tarquinii and Veil to make war with 
him against the Romans. But the Consuls came out against them ; 
Valerius commanding the main army, and Brutus the cavalry. 
And it chanced that Aruns, the King's son, led the cavalry of the 
enemy. When he saw Brutus he spurred his horse against him, 
and Brutus declined not the combat. So they rode straight at 
each other with levelled spears ; and so fierce Avas the shock, that 
they pierced each other through from, breast to back, and both 
fell dead. 

Then, also, the armies fought, but the battle was neither won 
nor lost. But in the night a voice was heard by the Etruscans, 
saying that the Romans were the conquerors. So the enemy 
fled by night ; and when the Romans arose in the morning, there 
was no man to oppose them. Then they took up the body of 
Brutus, and departed home, and buried him in public with great 

* "Infelix — utcunque ferunt ea facta minoresi" — Aen. vi. 823 — a punctua- 
tion which one could wish it possible to maintain. 



Chap. IV. ATTEMPTS TO RESTORE TARQUIK 65 

pomp ; and tlae matrons of Rome mourned him for a whole year, 
because lie had avenged the injury of Lucretia, 

And thus the second attempt to restore King Tarquin was frus- 
trated. 

§ 13. After the death of Brutus, Publius Valerius ruled the 
people for a while by himself, and he began to build himself a 
house upon the ridge called Velia, which looks down upon the 
Forum. So the people thought that he was going to make him- 
self king ; but when he heard this, he called an Assembly of the 
People, and appeared before them with his fasces lowered, and 
with no axes in them, whence the custom remained ever after, 
that no consular lictors wore axes within the city, and no Consul 
had power of life and death except when he was in command of 
his legions abroad. And he pulled down the beginning of his 
house upon the Velia, and built it below that hill. Also he passed 
laws that every Roman citizen might appeal to the people against 
the judgment of the chief magistrates. Wherefore he was greatly 
honoured among the people, and was called Poplicola, or Friend 
of the People. 

After this Valerius called together the great Assembly of the 
Centuries, and they chose Sp. Lucretius, father of Lucretius, to 
succeed Brutus. But he was an old man, and in not many days 
he died. So M. Horatius was chosen in his stead. 

§ 14. The temple on the Capitol which King Tarquin began 
had never yet been consecrated. Then Valerius and Horatius 
drew lots which should be the consecrator, and the lot fell on 
Horatius. But the friends of Valerius murmured, and they wished 
to prevent Horatius from having the honour ; so when he was now 
saying the prayer of consecration, with his hand upon the door- 
post of the temple, there came a messenger, who told him that his 
son was just dead, and that one mourning for a son could not 
rightly consecrate the temple. But Horatius kept his hand upon 
the door-post, and told them to see to the burial of his son, and 
finished the rites of consecration. Thus did he honour the gods 
even above his own son, 

§ 15. In the next year Valerius was again made Consul, with 
T. Lucretius ; and Tarquinius, despairing now of aid from his 
friends at Veil and Tarquinii, went to Lars Porsenna of Clusium, 
a city on the river Clanis, which falls into the Tiber. Porsenna 
was at this time acknowledged as chief of the twelve Etruscan 
cities ; and he assembled a powerful army and came to Rome. 
He came so quickly that he reached the Tiber and was near the 
Sublician Bridge before there was time to destroy it ; and if he 
had crossed it the city would have been lost. Then a noble 
Roman, called Horatius Codes, of the Lucerian tribe, with two 



■f 



66 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. 

friends — Sp. Lartius, a Eamnian, and T. Herminius, a Titian — 
posted themselves at the far end of the bridge, and defended the 
passage against all the Etruscan host, while the Romans were 
cutting it off behind them. When it was all but destroyed, his 
two friends retreated across the bridge, and Horatius was left alone 
to bear the whole attack of the enemy. Well he kept his ground, 
standing unmoved amid the darts which were showered upon his 
shield, till the last beams of the bridge fell crashing into the river. 
Then he prayed, saying — " Father Tiber, receive me and bear me 
up, I pray thee." So he plunged in, and reached the other side 
safely ; and the Romans honoured him greatly : they put up his 
statue in the Comitium, and gave him as much land as he could 
plough round in a day, and every man at Rome subscribed the 
cost of one day's food to reward him. 

Then Porsenna, disappointed in his attempt to surprise the city, 
occupied the Hill Janiculum, and besieged the city, so that the 
people were greatly distressed by hunger. But C. Mucius, a 
noble youth, resolved to deliver his country by the death of the 
King. So he armed himself with a dagger, and went to the place 
where the King was used to sit in judgment. It chanced that the 
soldiers were receiving their pay from the King's secretary, who 
sate at his right hand splendidly apparelled ; and as this man 
seemed to be chief in authority, Mucius thought that this must be 
the King; so he stabbed him to the heart. Then the guards 
seized him and dragged him before the King, who was greatly en- 
raged, and ordered them to burn him alive if he would not confess 
the whole affair. Then Mucius stood before the King, and said 
■ — " See how little thy tortures can avail to make a brave man tell 
the secrets committed to him ;" and so saying, he thrust his 
right hand into the fire of the altar, and held it in the flame with 
unmoved countenance. Then the King marvelled at his cour- 
age, and ordered him to be spared, and sent away in safety: 
" for," said he, " thou art a brave man, and hast done more harm 
to thyself than to me." Then Mucius replied, " Thy generosity, 
King, prevails more with me than thy threats. Know that 
three hundred Roman youths have sworn thy death : my lot 
came first. But all the rest remain, prepared to do and suffer 
like myself." So he was let go, and returned home, and was 
called Scsevola, or the Left-handed, because his right hand had 
been burnt off. 

King Porsenna was greatly moved by the danger he had 
escaped ; and perceiving the obstinate determination of the 
Romans, he offered to make peace. The Romans gladly gave 
ear to his words, for tjiey Avere hard pressed ; and they con- 
sented to give back all the land which they had won from the 



Chap. IV. ATTEMPTS TO RESTORE TARQUIK 67 

Etruscans beyond tlie Tiber. And tliey gave hostages to tlie 
King in pledge that tbey would obey liim as they had pro- 
mised, ten youths and ten maidens. But one of the maidens, 
named Cloelia, had a man's heart, and she persuaded all her 
fellows to escape from the King's camp and swim across 
the Tiber. At first King Porsenna was wroth ; but then he was 
much amazed, even more than at the deeds of Horatius and 
Mucins. So when the Romans sent back Cloelia and her fellow- 
maidens — for they Avould not break faith with the King — he bade 
her return home again, and told her she might take whom she 
pleased of the youths who were hostages ; and she chose those 
who were yet boys, and restored them to their parents. 

So the Roman people gave certain lands to young Mucins, and 
they set up an equestrian statue to the bold Cloelia at the top of 
the Sacred Way. And King Porsenna returned home ; and thus 
the third and most formidable attempt to bring back Ta'rquin 
failed. 

§ 16. When Tarquin now found that he had no hopes of 
further assistance from Porsenna and his Etruscan friends, he 
went and dwelt at Tusculum, where Mamilius Octavius, his son- 
in-law, was still chief. Then the thirty Latin cities combined 
together, and made this Octavius their Dictator, and bound 
themselves to restore their old friend and ally King Tarquin to 
the sovereignty of Rome. 

§ 17. P. Valerius, who was called Poplicola, was now dead, and 
the Romans looked about for some chief worthy to lead them 
against the army of the Latins. Poplicola had been made Consul 
four times, and his compeers acknowledged him as their chief, 
and all men submitted to him as to a king. But now the two 
Consuls were jealous of each other; nor had they power of life 
and death within the city, for Valerius (as we saw) had taken 
away the axes- from the fasces. Now this was one of the 
reasons why Brutus and the rest made two Consuls instead of 
one king : for they said that neither one would allow the other 
to become tyrant ; and since they only held office for one year at 
a time, they might be called on to give account of their govern- 
ment when their year was at an end. 

Yet though this was a safeguard of liberty in times of peace, 
it was hurtful in time of war ; for the Consuls chosen by the 
people in their great assemblies were not always skilful generals ; 
or if they were so, they were obliged to lay down their com- 
mand at the year's end. 

So the Senate determined, in cases of great danger, to call 
upon one of the Consuls to appoint a single chief, who should 
be called Dictator, or Master of the People. He had sovereign 



68 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. 

power (imperium) botli in tlie city and out of tlie city, and the 
I'asces were always carried before liim with the axes in them, 
as they had been before the king. He could only be appointed 
for six months, but at the end of the time he had to give no 
account. So that he was free to act according to his own 
judgment, having no colleague to interfere with him at the 
present, and no accusations to fear at a future time. The Dictator 
was general-in-chief, and he appointed a chief officer to command 
the knights under him, who was called Master of the Horse. 

And now it appeared to be a fit time to appoint such a chief, 
to take the command of the army against the Latins. So the 
first Dictator was T. Lartius ; and he made Spurius Cassius his 
Master of the Horse. This was in the year 499 b.c, eight years 
after the expulsion of Tarquin. 

§ 18. But the Latins did not declare war for two years after. 
Then the Senate again ordered the Consul to name a Master of 
the People, or Dictator ; and he named Aul. Postumius, who 
appointed T. JEbutius (one of the Consuls of that year) to be 
his Master of the Horse. So they led out the Eoman army 
against the Latins, and they met at the Lake Regillus, in 
the land of the Tusculans; King Tarquin and all his family 
were in the host of the Latins ; and that day it was to be deter- 
mined whether Rome should be again subject to the tyrant, and 
whether or no she was to be chief of the Latin cities. 

King Tarquin himself, old as he was, rode in front of the 
Latins in full armour ; and when he descried the Roman Dictator 
marshalling his men, he rode at him ; but Postumius wounded 
him in the side, and he was rescued by the Latins. Then also 
-^butius, the Master of the Horse, and Oct. Mamilius, the 
Dictator of the Latins, charged one another, and -^butius was 
pierced through the arm, and Mamilius wounded in the breast. 
But the Latin chief, nothing daunted, returned to battle, fol- 
lowed by Titus, the King's son, with his band of exiles. These 
charged the Romans furiously, so that they gave way ; but when 
M. Valerius, brother of the great Poplicola, saw this, he spurred 
his horse against Titus, and rode at him with spear in rest : and 
when Titus turned away and fled, Valerius rode furiously after 
him into the midst of the Latin host, and a certain Latin smote 
him in the side as he was riding past, so that he fell dead, and 
his horse galloped on without a rider. So the band of exiles 
pressed still more fiercely upon the Romans, and they began to 
flee. Then Postumius the Dictator lifted up his voice and vowed 
a temple to Castor and Pollux, the great twin heroes of the 
Greeks, if they would aid him ; and behold there appeared on his 
right two horsemen, taller and fairer than the sons of men, and 



Chap. IV. ATTEMPTS TO RESTORE TARQUIN. 69 

their liorses were as white as snow. And they led the Dictator 
and his guard against the exiles and the Latins, and the Romans 
prevailed against them ; and T. Herminius, the Titian, the friend 
of Horatius Codes, ran Mamilius, the Dictator of the Latins, 
through the body, so that he died ; but when he was stripping 
the arms from his foe, another ran him through, and he was 
carried back to the camp, and he also died. Then also Titus, 
the King's son, was slain, and the Latins fled, and the Eomans 
pursued them with great slaughter, and took their camp and all 
that was in it. Now Postumius had promised great rewards to 
those who first broke into the camp of the Latins, and the first 
who broke in Avere the two horsemen on white horses ; but after 
the battle they were nowhere to be seen or found, nor was there 
any sign of them left, save on the hard rock there was the mark 
of a horse's hoof, which men said was made by the horse of one 
of those horsemen. 

But at this very time two youths on white horses rode into 
the Forum at Rome. They were covered with dust and sweat 
and blood, like men who had fought long and hard, and their 
horses also were bathed in sweat and foam : and they alighted 
near the Temple of Vesta, and washed themselves in a spring 
that gushes out hard by, and told all the people in the Forum 
how the battle by the Lake Regillus had been fought and won. 
Then they mounted their horses and rode away, and were seen 
no more. 

But Postumius, when he heard it, knew that these were 
Castor and Pollux, the great twin brethren of the Greeks, and 
that it was they who fought so well for Rome at the Lake 
Regillus. So he built them a temple, according to his vow, over 
the place where they had alighted in the Forum.* And their 
effigies were displayed on Roman coins to the latest ages of the 
city.f 

§ 19. This was the fourth and last attempt to restore King 
Tarquin. After the great defeat of Lake Regillus, the Latin 
cities made peace with Rome, and agreed to refuse harbourage 
to the old King. He had lost all his sons, and, accompanied 
by a few faithful friends, who shared his exile, he sought a last 
asylum at the Greek city of Cumse in the Bay of Naples, at 
the court of the tyrant Aristodemus. Here he died in the course 
of a year, fourteen years after his expulsion. 

* See the plan of the Forum, Chapt. iii. § 24. 

\ See the cuts at the end of Chapt, viii. and head of Chapt. x. 




Bust of Niebuhr. 

CHAPTER Y. 

OBSERVATION'S ON THE HISTORY OF ROME UNDER THE KINGS. 

§ 1. Nature of Legendary History. § 2. Among Greeks. § 3. Among Ro- 
mans. § 4. Religious and Historical Legends. § 5. Tendency to propagate 
historical legends in aU times. § 6. Detection of incongruities in early 
Roman history : difBculties explained away by ancient critics. § 1. Modem 
critics, before and after Niebuhr. § 8. Relation of stories of Kings to actual 
history. § 9. Romulus and Numa. § 10. Tullus and Ancus. § 11. Tar- 
quinius Priscus and Servius. § 12. Tarquinius Superbus. § 13. Character 
of next Book. 

§ 1. Few persons will now be found to dispute the position 
that the early history of Rome, like that of all nations, begins 
with legendary tales. Such Legends are not to be regarded as 
mere Romances, that is, fictions invented by persons of lively 
imagination for the purpose of giving pleasure and amusement 
to their hearers or readers. They are older and more genuine 
than such professed romances. Among all nations in a rude 
and simple state, tales will be found current which pass from 
mouth to mouth without suspicion that they are not absolutely 
true. They are not written, because they date from times when 
writing is unknown ; and the mere fact of their being repeated 



Chap. V. NATURE OF EARLY HISTORY. Vl 

by word of moutli causes a perpetual variation in the narra- 
tives. The same original story being handed down tradition- 
ally by two diiferent tribes, Avhich have been separated from 
each other, or which are animated by hostile feelings, will in a 
very short time assume extremely dift'erent forms. Names,* 
circumstances, everything, except some dominant thought, may 
have been changed, and yet the origin may be the same. No 
fraud is intended or committed. The alterations arise naturally 
from the causes which have been indicated. 

§ 2. Among the Greeks such legendary lore is chiefly connected 
with religious ideas. The Legends or fivdoi of that lively race 
may mostly be traced to that sort of awe or wonder with which 
simple and uneducated minds regard the changes and movements 
of the natural world. The direct and easy way in which the 
imagination of such persons accounts for marvellous phenomena 
is to refer them to the operation of Persons. When the atten- 
tion is excited by the regular movements of sun and moon and 
stars, by the alternations of day and night, by the recurrence of 
the seasons, by the rising and falling of the seas, by the ceaseless 
flow of rivers, by the gathering of clouds, the rolling of thunder, 
and the flashing of lightning, by the operation of life in the 
vegetable and animal worlds, in short by any exhibition of an 
active and motive power, — it is natural for uninstructed minds 
to consider such changes and movements as the work of divine 
Persons. In this manner the early Greek Legends associate 
themselves with personification of the powers of nature. All 
attempts to account for the marvels which surround us are 
foregone ; everything is referred to the immediate operation of 
a god. " Cloud-compelling" Zeus is the author of the pheno- 
mena of the air; "Earth-shaking" Poseidon of all that happens 
in the water under the earth ; Nymphs are attached to every 
spring and tree ; Demeter, or Mother Earth, for six months 
rejoices in the presence of Proserpine, the green herb, her 
daughter, and for six months forgets her absence in dark abodes 
beneath the earth. 

This tendency to deify the powers of nature is due partly to 
a clear atmosphere and sunny climate, which inclines a people 
to live much in the open air in close communion with all that 
nature offers to charm the senses and excite the imagination, 
partly to the character of the people, and partly to the poets 
who in early times have wrought these legendary tales into 
works, which are read with increased delight in ages when 
science and method have banished the simple faith which pro- 
cured acceptance for these legends. Among the Greeks all these 
* See note on Cliapt. ii. § 3. 



72 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. 

conditions were found existing. They lived, so to say, out of 
doors ; their powers of observation were extremely quick, and 
their imagination singularly vivid; and their ancient poems are 
the most noble specimens of the old legendary tales that have 
been preserved in any country,* 

§ 3. But among the Romans all is different. We find few 
traces of this Religious Legend among them. What may have 
been the case in the earliest times we know not ; but the Roman 
poets whose works we possess adopted the mythology of Greece, 
and transferred to the Sabine and Latin divinities the attributes 
and actions of the Hellenic gods, so that we are often presented 
with the strange anomaly of Italian divinities disporting them- 
selves on the hills and in the valleys of Thessaly or Arcadia. 
But if there is not much of the native Religious Legend among 
the Romans, there is found another kind of Legend in greater 
fulness and beauty than perhaps among any other people. 

§ 4. We are thus brought to a distinction which it is neces- 
sary to make in the Legends of all nations. One class may be 
called the Religious Legend, of which we have briefly spoken ; the 
other is the Heroic or Historical, of which we have now to speak. 
The Religious Legend pretends to explain the nature of the 
universe and its history ; the Heroic Legend seeks to determine 
the early history of the particular people among whom it is 
found existing. As the poetic fancy of the Greek inclined him 
to the former kind, so the practical and business-like character 
of the Roman mind cared little for the mysteries of nature, but 
loved to dwell upon the origin and early fortunes of their own 
great city. 

§ 5. This tendency to hero-worship, which is indicated by the 
prevalence of the Heroic Legend, generally exerts its influence 
to a very late period in a nation's life, or rather it may be said 
never to die away entirely. A correcter natural philosophy has 

* Compare the beautiful passage in the fourth book of the Excwsion: 
" The lively Grecian, in a land of hills, 

Rivers, and fertile plains, and sounding shores, 

Under a cope of variegated sky, 

Could find commodious place for every god," etc. 
And again :— 

" The traveller slaked 

His thirst from riU or g-ushing fount, and thanked 

The Naiad. Sunbeams, upon distant hills 

Gliding apace, with shadows in their train. 

Might, with small help from fancy, be transformed 

Into fleet Oreads sporting visibly. 

The Zeyphers, fanning, as they passed, their wings, 

Lacked not, for love, fair objects, whom they wooed 

With gentle whisper," etc. 



Chap. V. NATURE OF EARLY HISTORY. 73 

banislied from most minds this belief in particular divine beings 
exercising particular influence on streams, and skies, and trees.* 
But no sooner does a man occupy any space in the public mind, 
than all kinds of tales concerning his sayings and doings pass 
current from mouth to mouth, and things are believed of him 
either for good or evil which have very slender foundation in 
truth. To children their parents, to young people their masters, 
to grown men their poets and philosophers, their statesmen and 
generals, or any one Avho raises himself above the crowd by ex- 
traordinary actions, good or bad, have an existence more or less 
mythical ; that is, they are the heroes of many tales, which are 
unconsciously invented, transmitted, altered, magnified, and be- 
lieved. Education and the press have done much to diminish this 
propensity to mythology; the moi'e persons are brought into im- 
mediate contact with the great, the more are they disabused of 
imaginative fancies with regard to them. But the spirit can 
never wholly be eradicated, nor indeed is its eradication produc- 
tive of unmixed good. It is impossible to conceive a society of 
men so penetrated by philosophical culture as to have become 
incapable of inventing and receiving legendary tales in some shape 
or other. 

§ 6. It is well known that the Legends of Roman history were 
long repeated and regarded as sober historic truths. Some keen- 
sighted critics were excited to examine them, and they proved 
by a long and careful investigation that they had no claim to be 
so regarded.f Impossibilities were pointed out, discrepancies 
of time and fact noted, variations of the same story, as told by 

* See Coleridge's translation of Schiller's Wallenstein, act ii. sc. 4 : — 
" The intelligible forms of ancient poets, 
The fair humanities of old reUgion, 
The power, the beauty, and the majesty, 
That had their haunts in dale or piny mountain, 
Or forest by slow stream, or pebbly spring. 
Or chasms and wat'ry depths ; — all these have vanish'd ; 
They hve no longer in the faith of reason 1" 
f The first, and probably the ablest, of these sceptical critics was Perizoniua, 
a German. But his work (Animadversiones Sistoricoe) was written in Latin, 
and addressed only to the learned. Gianbattista Vico, an Itahan of exti'aor- 
dinary genius, mixed up his historical speculations with so much of mysticism 
and obscurity, that they also produced but little effect. The person who nest 
shook the credit of the old Roman history was the Frenchman Beaufort, who, 
with the clear and cool calculation of his nation, made the discrepancies and 
variations clear to the least attentive, in his essay, Sur V Incertitude de VlSis- 
toire Romaine. It is characteristic at least, that he was first stimulated to his 
■nvestigations by national pique. He was indignant at the tale that the bravo 
Gauls of Brennus were defeated by CamOlus, and his successful confutation 
of this legend led him on to more adventurous flights. The immediate results 
of his work may be seen in the histories of Hook and Ferguson. 

4 



^4 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. 

different writers, brouglit forward. Even in ancient times the 
miraculous nature of many of these Legends was a stumbling- 
block to sober annalists. The course these writers took in 
ancient times was what we now know by the name of rationalism. 
They retained all the statements of the legends, but explained 
them so as to suit common prose. The Golden Fleece was a ship 
in which Medea and Jason escaped ; the Bull was a ship in which 
Europa was carried off by Jove, and so forth. In Grecian litera- 
ture the chief rationalist was named Euhemeros ; in Roman L. 
Calpurnius Piso played the same part. 

§ v. But the modern critics who showed the discrepancies and 
variations of the ancient Legends took a different course. It was 
not the marvellous and supernatural incidents that attracted 
their notice ; for after all there are not many of such kind in 
Roman annals. It was the manifest falsehood of many of the 
early stories, which attracted notice, — the exaltation of indivi- 
dual heroes, the concealment of defeats and losses on the part of 
Rome. The most striking among these inventions, as we shall 
show below, are the stories of Porsenna and Camillus. The im- 
mediate effect of these discoveries was, that for a time the annals 
of early Roman history were passed over in almost contemptuous 
silence. It was then that Niebuhr arose. He acknowledged 
the sagacity of these critics, and conceded to them that the 
early history, if regarded as an actual narrative of facts, was 
wholly unreal ; but he refused to throw it all aside as arbitrary 
fiction. He showed that the early history of Rome, like that of 
all nations, was mythical or legendary, containing a poetical 
account of the first ages of the city, and not a sober historical nar- 
rative ; but the legendary traditions of the Roman people parti- 
cularly are, he contended, so rich and so beautiful, that they give 
an insight into the early genius of the people which would never 
have been divined from the imitative literature Avhich has been 
handed down as Roman. Moreover, mingled up with the poetic 
legends of which we speak, there are accounts of laws and institu- 
tions which undeniably existed, such as the regulations attributed 
to Romulus and Numa, and the popular reforms of Avhich the 
elder Tarquin and Servius TuUius are the reputed authors. 
There are also great works, in part remaining to the present 
day, of which these Legends tell — such as the Cloaca Maxima, 
the Substructions of the Capitol, the Agger of Servius Tullius. 
Here we have realities which cannot be put aside as children's 
tales. 

§ 8. At present we have only to estimate the relation which 
the chronicles of Regal Rome bear to actual historical fact. 

The reigns of the seven Kings have been thrown into four 



Sect. V. NATURE OP EARLl- HISTORY. 75 

chapters purposely. Eacli of these sections presents a legendary- 
character of its own. The accounts of Romulus and Numa differ 
essentially from those of TuUus and Ancus ; and all these differ 
more widely from the chronicle of the first Tarquin and of Servius ; 
while the story of the last Tarquin brings us into the atmosphere 
of romance in which we move during the first century and a half 
of the Republic. 

^ 9. The reigns of Romulus and Numa are in the realm of pure 
mythology. Romulus, like JEneas, is the son of a god ; Numa, 
like Anchises, is the favoured lover of a goddess. Romulus is the 
man of force, for Roma [pcj^irj) signifies strength and vigour. 
Numa is the man of law, for numus {yonoq) signifies law. Under 
these typical names is embodied, in beautiful legends, the origin of 
the social, political, and religious institutions of Rome. How long 
a period is thus symbolised, or how many generations of kings, it 
is impossible to guess. 

But under the mythical story of these reigns we may clearly 
discern historical truth. We see in them a continual struggle 
between the original Latin influence and the Sabine. Romulus 
the Roman founds the city, and is obliged to admit into partner- 
ship Titus the Sabine, who occupies both the Quirinal and Satur- 
nian Hills. Then Titus is slain by Latins, and the Roman King 
regains ascendancy for a time. But he is carried miraculously 
from the earth, is worshipped under a Sabine name, and a Sabine 
king succeeds. Here we trace the indisputable symptoms of 
Sabine conquest. The admission of Sabines into the city at all 
suggests this ; their occupation of the stronghold on the Saturnian 
Hill confirms it ; the assumption of a Sabine name by the Roman 
king, and the appellation of Quirites given to the united citizens, 
prove it.* 

It is probable, indeed, that the early institutions of Rome are 
Sabine rather than Latin. The religious ordinances of Numa 
are confessedly so. There is reason to think that the same is 

* Above, Chapt. i. § 10, Quirites has been rendered "Men of the Spear," 
according to the first derivation thus quoted from Ovid. It is objected that 
this appellation, which is always used of the Romans in their civil capacity, 
while as conquerors they are always called Populus Romanus, ill accords with 
this explanation. In answer, it is suggested that the term Quirites, originally 
meaning "united warriors," lost its warlike, and retained only its political, 
sense of union. From the notion of union or brotherhood, it follows (which is 
the fact) that the singular Quiris was not properly used at all. Niebuhr sup- 
poses that the common phrase, Populus EoTnanus Quirites, stood for Populus 
Romanus et Quirites, according to the forms of ancient Latin. But, on the 
above hypothesis, this cannot be so. Quirites can hardly denote a body dis- 
tinct from Populus Romanus ; and the phrase must be equivalent to Pop. Rom. 
Quiritium, which is not unfrequent. See the proof in Becker's Roman Anti- 
quities, vol. ii, part i. page 21, sqq. 



76 HOME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. 

true also of the social and political regulations attributed to 
Romulus. 

For example, the relations of Patrons and Clients almost neces- 
sarily imply a conquering and a conquered people. The Clients 
we may presume to be the Aborigines, a Pelasgian tribe, first re- 
duced by Oscans, and afterwards by Sabines. On the conquest by 
the Sabines, it may be supposed that the chief Oscan families were 
admitted to equality with the conquerors, either at once or in 
the course of a short time : while the mass of the Osco-Pelasgian 
population sank into the condition of Russian serfs or of feudal 
vassals. 

Something not very dissimilar occurred after the conquest of 
England by William the Norman. The great Saxon families were 
not doomed to ruin by the Conqueror till a wide-spread rebellion 
had convinced him that he could not retain his power but by fear: 
and even then the French wars soon promoted an equality between 
the Norman lords and the Saxon chiefs, while the mass of the 
nation remained in a state of serfdom. It is, in like manner, very 
probable that the dominion of the Sabines was relaxed, in conse- 
quence of war with their neighbours the Latins and Etruscans ; 
and it is very possible that the patriotism of later Roman minstrels 
may have confounded the Sabines with their own progenitors ; just 
as the Norman-French of England soon learned to glory in the 
name of Englishmen. 

On the whole, then, it seems not unlikely that the reigns of 
Romulus and Numa represents a period of Sabine supremacy ; 
during which institutions arose of Sabine origin and character, but 
so moulded and modified as to suit the genius of the combined 
people ; and that slowly, but surely, the spirit and genius of the 
Latin people prevailed over the smaller numbers of their Sabine 
conquerors, just as the spirit and genius of the Anglo-Saxons gra- 
dually overpowered the Roman influence. 

§ 10. The reigns of Tullus and Ancus present, in some mea- 
sure, a repetition of those of Romulus and Numa. The Roman 
King dies by a strange and sudden death ; the Sabine succeeds. 
But the miraculous has disappeared. The Kings are ordinary 
mortals, not the sons and spouses of divinities ; and there is 
very little even of heroic legend. But there are a few naked 
facts which are no doubt historical. The destruction of Alba 
by Tullus, the conquest of Politorium and the Latin shore by 
Ancus, and the rapid growth of an independent Commonalty 
by the side of their Patrons and their Clients, are evidently 
beyond the range of legendary tales. There are few signs here 
of hostility between Latin and Sabine interest. The reigns of 
Tullus and Ancus seem to denote a period in Avhich the two 



Chap. V. NATURE OF EARLY HISTORY. 7Y 

nations, tliougli still distinct, were going through a rapid process 
of fusion. 

§ 11. With the elder Tarquin and Servius the scene changes 
suddenly. The differences between Romans and Sabines have dis- 
appeared ; the fusion of the Rhamnian and Titian tribes is com- 
plete. But the third Tribe, the Lucerian, which the Legends 
(erroneously, no doubt,) represent as coeval with the other two, 
and which had been hitherto kept in a subordinate position, now 
starts into political life. It seems originally to have been of a 
mixed race, partly Etruscan, partly Latin, though gradually the 
Latin preponderated, and the Etruscan element at length dis- 
appeared. This mixture is indicated by the varying accounts 
which are given of the birthplace and family of Tarquin and Ser- 
vius. The former is commonly represented as an Etruscan emi- 
grant, but one Legend calls him a Latin ; the latter is generally 
regarded as a Latin, but one Legend makes him an Etruscan chief, 
named Mastarna, the comrade of Cseles Vibenna. Yet, so vague 
and baffling is the language of these Legends, that after all inves- j^ 
tigations, nothing more can be said than that the bulk of the third 
Tribe was manifestly Latin, and that whatever there was in Rome 
"of Etruscan decayed and vanished away. 

Yet it is certain that, under these kings, Rome became the 
centre of a considerable monarchy, extending her sway over Lower 
Etruria and all Latium. This is proved not only by the concur- 
rent voice of all the Legends, but also most convincingly by the 
great works which still remain to attest the power and wealth of 
those who executed them, the Cloacae of Tarquin, the walls of Ser- 
vius, and the great extent of ground enclosed by them, and the 
plan of the Capitoline Temple. To this subject we have to recur 
at the beginning of our next chapter. 

Further, it is certain that under these kings the old oligar- 
chical constitution was in great measure superseded. Anciently, 
the Kings, according to the Sabine rule, had been the chiefs in 
war ; but in peace their power was almost limited to the duty of 
presiding in the oligarchical assembly of the Curiae, and in the 
Council of the Senate. Their power of life and death was limited j 
by the right of appeal to the Curiate Assembly belonging to 
every burgess, as is shown in the legend of Horatius. But Tar- 
quin admitted great numbers of new burgesses to leaven the 
oligarchy, and Servius remoulded the whole population, in which 
the independent commonalty now formed the chief part, into a 
new political frame. It cannot be doubted that with the decrease 
in the power of the Oligarchy that of the Kings increased. The 
reigns of Tarquin the Elder and Servius represent a period in 
which the old Sabino-Roman Oligarchy gave way before the royal 



•78 EOMB UNDER THE KINGS. BOOK I. 

power, supported by the Latin Plebs, just as in England the 
Commons were called into political existence by the Plantagenet 
kings to counterbalance the overwhelming' power of the feudal 
aristocracy. 

§ 12. The reign of the last Tarquin represents the consumma- 
tion of this work. Royalty is now despotic. The Plebeians 
> having served the purpose of lowering the Oligarchy, are cast 
aside, and a despotic monarchy overrules both alike. As the 
reigns of TuUus and Ancus, of the elder Tarquin and Servius, 
though they present much of real political interest, are almost 
empty of legendary tales, so the accounts of the last Tarquin are 
nothing but a series of Heroic Legends, beginning with the death 
of Servius, and closing with the great battle of Lake Regillus. 
All that we can collect from these Legends is, that Tarquin the 
J Despot was really a great and powerful monarch, a man of ability 
and energy, who acknowledged no political rights except those of 
the King, and who fell in consequence of one of those sudden 
bursts of passionate indignation, to which all orders of a nation are 
sometimes roused by contumelious oppression. No sooner was his 
fall achieved, than the disunion of the Patrician and Plebeian 
Orders disclosed itself, just as in England the enmity of Church- 
men and Puritans, who had combined for a moment against the 
Stuarts, broke out with double fury after their fall. 

§ 13. In the History of Eome under the Patricians, which forms 
the subject of our next Book, we have still to deal with legendary 
narrative. But it is of a different kind to that which meets us in 
the chronicle of regal Rome. There the legends are mostly na- 
tional, and here they will be personal. There they refer to dynas- 
ties and the changes which arose from feuds between cenquerors 
and conquered ; here they relate chiefly to foreign wavs^ and the 
prowess of patrician heroes. 




View of Campagna. 

BOOK II. 

HOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. 



CHAPTER VI. 

DECLINE OF ROMAN POWER AFTER THE EXPULSION OF THE TARQUINS. 
GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF ROME. 

§ 1. Extent of Eoman power at Expulsion of Kings. § 2. It fell with Mo- 
narchy. § 3. Romans for a time subject to Porsenna. § 4 Rome no longer 
head of Latium: accession of Attus Clausus and 3000 Clients. Narrow 
limits of Roman History for next 150 years. § 5. Campagna: pestilential 
air. § 6. Less unhealthy in ancient times. § 7. Nations bordering on 
plain of Rome: Tusculum, &c. § 8. Lower Apennines: Prseneste: Vols- 
cians: ^quians: Hernicans. § 9. Lower Etruria. 

§ 1. It has been incidentally noticed tliat in the first year of the 
Eepublic, a sort of commercial treaty was made between Rome 
on the one part, and Carthage on the other. The very fact of a 
great trading city like Carthage thinking it worth while to 
enter into such a treaty leads us to look on Rome with very 
different eyes from those of the early Annalists. It is evident 



80 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. 

that slie must have occupied an important position in the Medi- 
terranean. The general impression raised by the mere existence 
of such a treaty, is much strengthened by its articles, so far as 
they have been preserved to us. It appears that the Carthagi- 
nians on their part bound themselves to make no settlement for 
trading purposes on the coast of Latium and Campania, while 
the Romans on their part covenanted not to sail along the 
African coast southward of the Hermsean promontory. This 
jealousy of maritime interference on the side of Carthage shows 
that Rome, or her Etruscan sovereign at least, must have been 
in possession of a considerable naval force. Again, the Latins 
are in the treaty expressly called the "subjects" of Rome, which 
confirms the statements of the Roman Annalists that all Latium 
was reduced under the sovereignty of the later kings, 

§ 2. It is probable, then, on the one hand, that the Tarquins 
and Servius ruled a considerable kingdom, which certainly included 
all Latium, and probably also great part of Etruria. 

It is, on the other hand, certain that this dominion fell with the 
monarchy. 

§ 3. The war with Porsenna and the Etruscans shows that 
Etruria, whatever wag the case before, was now certainly not 
subject to Rome ; nay, there is evidence to prove that the Romans 
themselves became for a time subject to the Etruscan yoke. 
We have heard the legend of Porsenna as it ij related by Roman 
bards. But it is certain that the truth has been much distorted. 
The tales of Horatius, of Mucins, of Cloelia, are noble poetry, 
and stir the youthful heart with no ungenerous fire. Yet wo 
must confess that Porsenna conquered Rome, and held it for a 
time at least under an iron rule. Tacitus, the greatest of Roman 
historians, lets drop the fact that "the city itself was surren- 
dered" to the Etruscan monarch :* another writer tells us, that 
the war lasted three years :f the legend itself obscurely con- 
fesses that Rome at this time lost its Trans-Tiberine pagi, 
and that Porsenna was acknowledged as sovereign by the pre- 
sent of an ivory throne, a sceptre, a crown of gold, and a robe of 
state, the very marks of Etruscan monarchy introduced at Rome 
by the elder Tarquin : and, lastly, Pliny expressly cites the treaty, 
by which it appears, that Porsenna forbade the Romans to use any 
iron except for implements of husbandry .J 

* "Dedit4 Urbe." — Tacit. Histor. iii. 72. f Orosius, ii. 5. 

:j: " In foedere quod expulsis regibus Populo Romano dedit Porsenna, nomi- 
natim comprehensum invenimus, ne ferro nisi in agri culturam uterentur." — 
Plin. Hist. Nat. xxxiv. 39. "With this may be compared the treatment of the 
Israehtes by the Philistines, 2 Sam. xiii. 19 — 22. There could be no more 
complete proof of absolute submission. 



Chap. VI. DECLINE IN POWER. 81 

This dominion of tlie Etruscans over Rome did not continue 
long ; for, soon after, Porsenna was defeated and slain before the 
Latin city of Aricia ; and then it was, doubtless, that the Romans 
seized and sold all the goods of the king on Avhich they could lay 
their hands.* But it was not till long after that they reconquered 
the Yeientine pagi which they had lost. 

§ 4. So also, notwithstanding the triumph of Lake Regillus, it 
is certain that Rome no longer was the head of Latium. The 
Latin cities Tusculum, Lanuvium, Corioli, and others, within 
ten or twelve miles of the Forum, asserted their independence ; 
not to speak of Tibur, Prseneste, and others, which Avere more 
remote. The only accession to her territory, amid all these 
losses, arose from the voluntary union of some Sabines with 
their old compatriots at Rome. Most of the Sabine tribes in 
proximity with Rome supported the Latins in their revolt. But 
a powerful chief of the name of Attus Clausus, with a following 
of no less than three thousand clients, joined himself to the 
Romans, and himself became a Roman. He and his followers 
were settled in a Sabine district beyond the Anio, which was con- 
stituted as a local tribe ; — the number of the Tribes being thus 
raised to Twenty-one.f Rome, then, now appears as mistress only 
of a small territory on the left bank of the Tiber. The next 
century and a half of her history is occupied in reconquering that 
which she had lost : and though still the narrative is much mixed 
up with legendary tales, yet the people with whom she deals, and 
the land which she wins, are real and substantial things, and re- 
main in her possession for ever. Here then it will be convenient 
and instructive for the student to pause, and take a geographical 
survey of the Roman territory and its adjacent lands. 

§ 5. The city of Rome stands at the verge of a small island of 
tertiary formation in the midst of a long tract of volcanic 
country, which stretches from the Pontine Marshes on the south 
to Acquapendente, a town of modern Tuscany, about ten miles 
north of the Volsinian lake. The land along the coast-line of 
this tract, from Civita Vecchia, the port of modern Rome, 
to Cape Circello, is flat and low. But the land rises gra- 
dually inland, till at Rome the general level is considerably 
above the sea. To one standing upon the Capitol, the view to- 
wards Tuscany is immediately bounded by a ridge of hills, which 

* Hence "to sell the goods of King Porsenna" became a proverb at Eome 
for despoiling an enemy. Livy attempts to explain the phrase in accordance 
with the legend, which represents Rome as never having yielded to the king. 

f It probably was the Crustumine or Crustumerian, the first that did not 
bear the name of a Patrician Gens. See Chapt. iii. § 20, Note, whence it 
wUI be seen that a Claudian Tribe already existed. 

4* 



82 KOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. 

skirt the Tiber on the west. The height directly west of the 
Capitol is Mont Janiculum; northward, and facing the Campus 
Martins, is the Vatican hill ; while still further north appears 
the more considerable eminence of Mont Marius. Due north, 
the view up the valley of the Tiber is closed by the noble mass of 
Soracte. From this point round to the sea, that is on the north- 
east, east, and south, the eye ranges over a wide extent of plain, 
properly called the Campagna di Eoma. 

Viewed from the heights of Rome, this plain appears level and 
unbroken. But the traveller who passes over it finds it rising 
and falling in constant undulations, while in the hollows, here and 
there, small streams creep sluggishly towards the Tiber or Anio 
through broken banks fringed with broom and other low-grow- 
ing plants. He sees but few portions of this plain under cultiva- 
tion, though it produces a luxuriant herbage. Houses, there are 
scarcely any, trees almost none, to break the dreary monotony ; 
and the peasants whom he meets, few and far between, give suffi- 
cient reason for this desolation in their unhealthy looks and listless 
bearing. 

The part of this plain which on the west is bounded by the 
course of the Tiber, from beyond the Anio to the sea, was 
the famous Ager Romanus, and formed the narrow district to 
which we find its limits reduced after the wars which followed 
the expulsion of the Tarquins. Its eastern boundary cannot be 
distinctly ascertained; but it was formed by a waving line 
which ran from below Tivoli to Ardea, at a mean breadth of ten 
or twelve miles ; its whole area being not larger than the county 
of Middlesex. On enquiry into its present condition, we learn 
that this district is distributed into four or five and twenty 
farms ; that the land in each farm is divided into seven portions, 
each of which is ploughed up in rotation for a grain crop, and 
then it is left to resume the natural herbage which soon clothes it 
again without the help of man ; so that not above one-seventh 
part of the whole is under tillage at once. We are further in- 
formed that the country is thus left desolate because of the malaria 
or pestilential atmosphere which pervades it ; that few or none of 
the tenant-farmers who occupy the land are hardy enough to 
reside upon their farms ; that the peasants who reap the crops 
come down for the express purpose from the upland valleys on the 
north, and suffer much from low fever and disease during the 
time that they are thus occupied ; that when the crop is housed, 
all flee the pestilential soil, except some few who haunt spectre- 
like the ruinous remains of its ancient towns.* 

* The foregoing facts are mainly collected from an article in the Edinlwrgh 
Eeview, vol xxxviii. p. 48 and following. 



Chap. YI. THE CAMPAaNA. 83 

§ G. It is a natural and inevitable thought, that, in the Roman 
times, the j)hysical condition of this country must have been 
difl'erent ; for every eminence was then crowned with a town or 
village, and many of the broken cliff-like banks formed citadels, 
like the Hills of Rome. It is certain, indeed, that in ancient 
times the country was unhealthy and uninviting ;* but it is not 
to be doubted that it is more unhealthy now, and that Rome 
itself was in those days less exposed to the influence of malaria 
than at present. What is not less striking is, that hitherto 
the causes of this malaria have baffled the researches of 
science. It does not arise from marshy exhalations ; for the 
soil of the Campagna is as dry in the present day as it was 
when Livy described it. It can hardly be due to the impreg- 
nation of the volcanic soil with mephitic vapour ; for, though 
it appears that the volcanic district of Etruria, now called 
the Maremma, is equally unhealthy, and presents a similar 
aspect of forlorn desolation, yet no such evil attacks other 
volcanic soils, as Campania or Sicily ; nor will this hypothesis 
account for the increase of the plague in modern times. The 
causes suggested for this increase are : first, the neglected culture 
of the land ; secondly, the destruction of trees and natural 
shelter from the sun and wind ; thirdly, the want of all protec- 
tion to those who brave the climate from the sudden cold that 
at sunset follows the intense heat of the day. Instances are 
alleged to show that if good houses are built, if tillage is promoted 
in their neighbourhood, and trees encouraged around them, and 
if the inhabitants avoid the air during sunset and at night, life 
may be enjoyed in the Campagna even at the present day 
without constant liability to fever in the hot season.f But 
social mismanagement seems to have combined with nature to 
desolate this region. Under the Romans themselves of a later day, 
as we shall see hereafter, it was found more profitable to throw 
large districts into pastures, and people it with flocks tended by 
slave-shepherds ; — for it must be noticed as a singular fact, that 
the air so prejudicial to the health of the human frame is not 
hurtful to the cattle. This system, introduced of old, still pre- 

* Cicero {De Republicd, ii. 6) says that Romulus " locum delegit in regione 
pestilente salubrem." And Livy (vii. 38) represents discontented Romans as 
declaring that they were wearied of struggling " in pestilente atque arido cir- 
cum urbem solo." Compare the reasons given against removing to Veil, v. 
54. Strabo, a Greek, speaks stiU more disparagingly of the situation of Rome. 
It was, he says, matter of necessity, rather than of choice. 

f The reviewer above referred to quotes such cases; and Dr. Arnold, on 
the authority of Chevaher Bunsen, mentions the great improvements that have 
been made on the lands of the Duke of Zagarolo (near Palestrina) by promot- 
ing tillage and permanent occupation. Hist, of Rome, i. p. 50*7. 



84 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. 

vails. And thougli it is likely that no natural evils would have 
dispeopled the Campagna, any more than they have dispeopled 
Vera Cruz or the coasts of the Sea of Azof, yet when the misrule 
of man seconds the visitation of God, and when once such a coun- 
try has lost its inhabitants, it is little to be expected that it will 
again' be reclaimed from its state of desolation.* 

§ Y. We will now notice the different tribes who dwelt on the 
verges of this celebrated district, and for this purpose we will 
return to the Capitol. 

A little to the south of east the plain is interrupted by a 
beautiful range of hills, which rise abruptly and by themselves 
from its surface. This is the volcanic range so well known as 
the Alban Hills. The highest peak, measuring about 3000 feet, 
was anciently crowned by the temple of Jupiter Latiaris, the 
common sanctuary of the Latin nation ; and on the ridge, of 
which it forms the culminating point, once lay the town of Alba 
Longa. In two hollows, to the south-west, are found the Alban 
lake and the lake of Nemus (Nemi), being both of them formed 
by accumulations of water in the craters of extinct volcanoes. On 
a separate ridge to the north lay Tusculum (Frascati), one of the 
Latin cities which threw off the Eoman yoke on the expulsion of 
the Tarquins : Corioli and Lavinium were situated on similar emi- 
nences to the south. 

§ 8. A line, drawn along the map of Italy from below Narnia 
down the Tiber, then across the Sabine country to Tibur, and 
so past Prasneste and Signia to Terracina, marks the edge of 
a continuous chain of hills which bound the plain of Latium. 
This is formed by a narrow belt of Ancient Limestone, which 
rises from under a broad and many -ridged mass of the more 
Recent system, as shown in the annexed map. These united 
formations constitute the lower range of Apennines, while 
on the other side of the more Recent mass again emerge the 
Ancient Limestone rocks of the main chain. It is the de- 
scent down the face of this lower ridge which forms the beau- 
tiful cascade of the Anio at Tibur (Tivoli). At Prseneste, the 
ridge sinks and lets the eye into the valley of the Trerus (Sacco), 
Avhich runs eastward to join the Liris. Prseneste (Palestrina) 
itself stands on a bold projecting eminence, in the gap formed 
by the sinking of the hills. Now this natural division of the 
range which Ave call the Lower Apeninnes, corresponds to its 
political division at the time of which we speak. The range 
between the right bank of the Trerus and Terracina was the hill 
country of the Volsci, Avho stretched across the Liris to Sora and 

* Edinburgh Review, as above, pp. 56, 57 ; Arnold's History of Borne, i. 
p. 504. 



Chap. VI. 



THE COUNTRY ROUND HOME. 



85 



Arpinum. The upper part from the Anio northwards, was the 
country of the ^quians, reaching beyond Carseoli and Alba, and 
including the Fucine lake (lake of Celano)^ the largest piece of 
water in the Apennine range. Between these two tribes, that is 
between the Trerus and the Anio, lay, wedged in their upland 
valley, the Hernicans. The Volscians and the ^quians were 
probably Opican tribes, of the same race with the Auruncans, 
Avho lay behind the Volscian hills in the mountainous tract which 
leads into Campania ; whereas the Hernicans, a brave and inde- 
pendent tribe, were of Sabine blood. The mountains to the 
north-east about Eeate up to Amiternum, are the ancient homes 
of the Sabines ; and from these mountains descended, according 
to tradition, the first occupants of Rome and Latium. Close 
above Amiternum rises the wild mass of Monte Corno, and the 
highest peaks of the Apennine range. For six months of the 
year the central ridges may easily be distinguished by their snow- 
capped summits. «. 

§ 9. Beyond the ridge which has been described as barring 




Ancient Limestone. 
More Recent Limestona 
Tertiary Beds. 
Volcanic. 
AUuviaL 



86 



EOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. 



Book IL 



all view towards ancient Etruria on the west and north-west, lay 
what we may call Lower Etruria, This district, lying between the 
lower valley of the Tiber and the sea, is separated from Upper 
Etruria by a range of volcanic hills, which strike across the coun- 
try at right angles to the Apennine valleys. They formed an un- 
frequented tract, then called the Ciminian Forest, beyond which 
no Romans for many years after dared to penetrate. It is from the 
eastern edg;e of this range, now called the heights of Viterbo, that 
the traveller from Florence obtains his first view of the Campagna. 
Below these hills was the country occupied by the Yeientines 
and the Faliscans. Beyond them again, the places of chief note 
were Sutrium and Nepete ; and towards the sea lay the low lands 
of the men of C^ere, a city which plays a considerable part in the 
history of Rome. Veii was not more than twelve miles distant 
from the walls of Rome. 

With this geographical sketch, which should be verified by a 
comparison with the map annexed,,all the progress of Rome in 
foreign conquest may readily be followed for the next century and 
a half. Her arms, in that period, never travelled further than 
twenty miles from Rome ; generally their action took place in a 
much more circumscribed sphere. 




Lake of Nemi, looking over the Campagna. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE TRIBUNATE. 

§ 1. Character of struggle between Orders. § 2. Sufferings of Plebeians in 
border wars, not shared by Patricians. § 3. All power gradually resumed 
by Patricians. § 4. Patricians an exclusive Caste : privilege of Connubium. 
§ 5. Plebeians iirst roused by severe Laws of Debtor and Creditor. § 6. 
Patricians chief Creditors, Plebeians Debtors. § 1. Story of incident which 
gave rise to Tribunate: Appius Claudius, leader of Patricians, deceives 
Plebeians. § 8. Secession of Plebeians to Mons Sacer. § 9. Menenius 
Agrippa : Fable of BeUy and Members. § 10. Peace restored : two Tri- 
bunes to be chosen as Protectors of Plebeians. § 11. Incompleteness of 
Protection. § 12. Plebeian ^diles. 

§ 1. In the following chapters of this Book we shall have to 
record, not only the slow steps by which the Romans recovered 
dominion over their neighbours, but also the long-continued 
struggle by which the Plebeians raised themselves to a level with 
the Patricians, who had again become the dominant caste at 
Rome. Mixed up with legendary tales as the history still is, 
enough is nevertheless preserved to excite the admiration of all 
who love to look upon a brave people pursuing a worthy object 
with patient but earnest resolution, never flinching, yet seldom 
injuring their good cause by reckless violence. To an English- 
man this history ought to be especially dear; for more than 
any other in the annals of the world does it resemble the long- 
enduring constancy and sturdy determination, the temperate 
will and noble self-control, with which the Commons of his own 
country secured their rights. It was by a struggle of this 
nature, pursued through a century and a half, that the character 
of the Roman people was moulded into that form of strength and 
energy, which threw back Hannibal to the coasts of Africa, and 
in half a century more made them masters of the Mediterranean 
shore. 

§ 2. There can be no doubt that the wars that followed the Ex- 
pulsion of the Tarquins, with the loss of territory that accom- 
panied them, must have reduced all orders of men at Rome to 
great distress. But those who most suffered were the Plebeians. 
The Plebeians at that time consisted entirely of landholders, great 
and small, and husbandmen ; for in those times the practice of 
trades and mechanical arts was considered unworthy of a free- 
born man. Some of the Plebeian families were as wealthy as any 



88 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. BOOK 11. 

among the Patricians ; but tlie mass of tliem were petty yeoman, 
who lived on the produce of their small farms, and were solely 
dependent for a living on their own limbs, their own thrift and 
industry. Most of them lived in the villages and small towns, 
which in those times were thickly sprinkled over the slopes of 
the Campagna. 

The Patricians, on the other hand, resided chiefly within the 
city. If slaves were few as yet, they had the labour of their Clients 
available to till their farms ; and through their Clients also they 
were enabled to derive a profit from the practice of trading and 
crafts, which personally neither they nor the Plebeians would stoop 
to pursue. Besides these sources of profit, they had at this time 
the exclusive use of the Public Land, a subject on which we shall 
have to speak more at length hereafter. At present, it will be 
sufficient to say, that the Public Land now spoken of had been 
the Crown Land or Regal Domain, which on the expulsion of the 
Kings had been forfeited to the State. The Patricians being in 
possession of all actual power, engrossed possession of it, and seem 
to have paid a very small quit-rent to the treasury for this great 
advantage. 

Besides this, the necessity of service in the army, or militia 
(as it might more justly be called), acted very differently on 
the rich landholder and the small yeoman. The latter, being 
called out with sword and spear for the summer's campaign, as 
his turn came round, was obliged to leave his farm uncared 
for, and his crop could only be reaped by the kind aid of neigh- 
bours; whereas the rich proprietor, by his Clients or his hired 
labourers, could render the required military service without 
robbing his land of his own labour. Moreover, the territory of 
Rome was so narrow, and the enemy's borders so close at hand, 
that any night the stout yeoman might find himself reduced to 
beggary, by seeing his crops destroyed, his cattle driven away, 
and his homestead burnt in a sudden foray. The Patricians 
and rich Plebeians were, it is true, exposed to the same contin- 
gencies. But wealth will always provide some defence ; and it is 
reasonable to think that the larger proprietors provided places 
of refuge, into which they could drive their cattle, and secure 
much of their property, such as the peel-towers common in our 
own border counties. Thus the Patricians and their Clients 
might escape the storm which destroyed the isolated yeoman. 
To this must be added, that the Public Land seems to have 
been mostly in pasturage, and therefore the property of the 
Patricians must have chiefly consisted in cattle, which was 
more easily saved from depredation than the crops of the Ple- 
beian. Lastly, the profit derived from the trades and business 



CH-iP. VII. THE TRIBUNATE. 89 

of their Clients, being secured by the walls of the city, gave to 
the Patricians the command of all the capital that could exist 
in a state of society so simple and rude, and afforded at once 
a means of repairing their own losses, and also of obtaining a 
dominion over the poor yeomen. 

§ 3. For some time after the expulsion of the Tarquins, it was 
necessary for the Patricians to treat the Plebeians Avith liberality. 
The institutions of " the Commons' King," King Servius, sus- 
pended by Tarquin, were, partially at least, restored : it is said 
eveu that one of the first Consuls Avas a Plebeian, and that he 
chose several of the leading Plebeians into the Senate. But after 
the death of Porsenna, and when the fear of the Tarquins ceased, 
all these flattering signs disappeared. The Consuls seem still 
to have been elected by the Centuriate Assembly, but the Cu- 
riate Assembly retained in their own hands the right of con- 
ferring the Imperium, which amounted to a positive veto on the 
election by the larger body. All the names of the early 
Consuls, except in the first year of the Republic, are Patrician. 
But if by chance a Consul displayed popular tendencies, it was 
in the power of the Senate and Patricians to suspend his power 
by the appointment of a Dictator. Thus, practically, the Patri- 
cian Burgesses again became the Populus or Body Politic of 
Rome. 

§ 4. It must here not be forgotten that this dominant body 
was an exclusive caste ; that is, it consisted of a limited number 
of noble families, who allowed none of their members to marry 
with persons born out of the pale of their own order. The child 
of a Patrician and a Plebeian, or of a Patrician and a Client, was 
not considered as born in lawful wedlock ; and however proud 
the blood which it derived from one parent, the child sank to the 
condition of the parent of lower rank. This was expressed in 
Roman language by saying, that there was no Right of Connu- 
bium between Patricians and any inferior classes of men. Nothing 
can be more impolitic than such restrictions ; nothing more hurt- 
ful even to those who count it their privilege. In all exclusive 
or oligarchical pales, families become extinct, and the breed decays 
both in bodily strength and mental vigour. Happily for Rome, 
the Patricians were unable long to maintain themselves as a sepa- 
rate caste, 

§ 5. Yet the Plebeians might long have submitted to this 
state of social and political inferiority, had not their personal 
distress and the severe laws of Rome driven them to seek 
relief, by claiming to be recognised as members of the body 
politic. 

The severe laws of which we speak were those of debtor and 



90 EOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS, Book IL 

creditor. If a Roman borrowed money, lie was ..expected to 
enter into a contract with his creditor to pay the debt by a cer- 
tain day ;* and if on that day he was unable to discharge his 
obligation, he was summoned before the Patrician judge, who 
was authorised by the law to assign the defaulter as a bondsman 
to his creditor ; that is, the debtor was obliged to pay by his 
own labour the debt which he was unable to pay in money. Or 
if a man incurred a debt without such formal contract, the rule 
was still more imperious : for in that case the law itself fixed 
the day of payment ; and if after a lapse of thirty days from that 
date the debt was not discharged, the creditor was empowered 
to arrest the person of his debtor, to load him with chains, and 
feed him on bread and water for another thirty days ; and then, 
if the money still remained unpaid, he might put him to death, 
or sell him as a slave to the highest bidder ; or, if there were 
several creditors, they might hew his body in pieces, and divide 
it. And in this last case the law provided with scrupulous pro- 
vidence against the evasion by which the Merchant of Venice 
escaped the cruelty of the Jew; for the Roman law said, that 
" whether a man cut more or less [than his due], he should incur 
no penalty."! These atrocious provisions, however, defeated their 
own object ; for there was no more unprofitable way in which the 
body of a debtor could be disposed of. 

§ 6. Such being the law of debtor and creditor, it remains to 
say that the creditors were chiefly of the Patrician caste, and the 
debtors almost exclusively of the poorer sort among the Ple- 
beians. The Patricians were the creditors, because from their 
occupancy of the Public Land, and from their engrossing the 
profits to be derived from trade and crafts, they alone had 
spare capital to lend. The Plebeian yeomen were the debtors, 
because their independent position made them, at that time, 
helpless. Vassals, clients, serfs, or by whatever name depen- 
dents are called, do not suffer from the ravages of a predatory 
war like free landholders, because the loss falls on their lords 
or patrons. But when the independent yeoman's crops are 
destroyed, his cattle "lifted," and his homestead in ashes, he 
must himself repair the loss. This was, as we have said, the 
condition of many Roman Plebeians. To rebuild their houses 

* Contracts were in Roman language called nexa, and persons bound by 
contract were "tiexi. 

f The technical word was addixit. Hence persons delivered over as bonds- 
men were addicti ; and the word addictics came to mean generally bound to do 
a thing, as in the phrase. "Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri." Herat. 
Epist. i. 1, 14. 

X "Si plus minusve secuerint, se [i. e. sine] fraude esto." This, as well 
as the other provisions of the law, are given by GeUius, xx. 1, §§ 45-49. 



Chap. YIL THE TRIBUNATE. 91 

and re-stock their farms, tliey borrowed; the Patricians were 
their creditors; and the law, instead of protecting the small 
holders, like the law of the Hebrews,'* delivered them over into 
serfdom or slavery. 

Thus the free Plebeian population might have been reduced to 
a state of mere dependency, and the history of Eome might have 
presented a repetition of monotonous severity, like that of 
Sparta or of Venice.f But it was ordained otherwise. The 
distress and oppression of the Plebeians led them to demand, 
and to obtain political protectors, by whose means they were 
slowly but surely raised to equality of rights and privileges with 
their rulers and oppressors. These protectors were the famous 
Tribunes of the Plebs. We will now repeat the no less famous 
legends by which their first creation was accounted for. 

§ Y. It was, by the common reckoning, fifteen years after the 
expulsion of the Tarquins (494 b.c), that the Plebeians were 
roused to take the first step in the assertion of their rights. 
After the battle of Lake Kegillus, the Plebeians had reason to ex- 
pect some relaxation of the law of debt, in consideration of the 
great services they had rendered in the war. But none was 
granted. The Patrician creditors began to avail themselves of the 
severity of the law against their Plebeian debtors. The discon- 
tent that followed was great : and the Consuls prepared to meet 
the storm. These were Appius Claudius, the proud Sabine 
nobleman who had lately become a Eoman, and who now led the 
high Patrician party with all the unbending energy of a chief- 
tain Avhose will had never been disputed by his obedient clans- 
men : and P. Servilius, who represented the milder and more 
liberal party of the Fathers. 

It chanced that an aged man rushed into the Forum on a 
market-day, loaded with chains, clothed with a few scanty rags, 
his hair and beard long and squalid ; his whole appearance 
ghastly, as of one oppressed by long want of food and air. He 
was recognised as a brave soldier, the old comrade of many who 
thronged the Forum. He told his story, how that in the late 
wars, the enemy had burnt his house and plundered his little 
farm; that to replace his losses, he had borrowed money of a 
Patrician, that his cruel creditor (in default of payment) had 
thrown him into prison, J and tormented him with chains and 
scourges. At this sad tale, the passions of the people rose high, 

* Levit. XXV. 23-31. 

f A well-known G-erman historian calls the Spartans by tho name of 
" stunted Romans." There is much resemblance to be traced 

X Such prisons were called ergastula, and afterwards became the places for 
keeping slaves in. 



92 EOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. BOOK IL 

Appius was obliged to conceal himself; while Servilius under- 
took to plead the cause of the Plebeians with the Senate. 

Meantime news came to the city that the Roman territory was 
invaded by. the Volscian foe. The Consuls proclaimed a levy ; 
but the stout yeomen, one and all, refused to give in their names 
and take the military oath. Servilius now came forward, and 
proclaimed by edict, that no citizen should be imprisoned for 
debt so long as the war lasted, and that at the close of the war 
he would propose an alteration of the law. The Plebeians trusted 
him, and the enemy was driven back. But when the popular 
Consul returned with his victorious soldiers, he was denied a 
triumph ; and the Senate, led by Appius, refused to make any 
concession in favour of the debtors. 

The anger of the Plebeians rose higher and higher; when, 
again news came that the enemy were ravaging the lands of 
Rome. The Senate, well knowing that the power of the Consuls 
would avail nothing, since Appius was regarded as a tyrant, and 
Servilius would not choose again to become an instrument for 
deceiving the people, appointed a Dictator to lead the citizens 
into the field. But to make the act as popular as might be, 
they named M. Valerius, a descendant of the great Poplicola. 
The same scene was repeated over again. Valerius protected 
the Plebeians against their creditors while they were at war, and 
promised them relief when war was over. But when the danger 
was gone by, Appius again prevailed; the Senate refused to 
listen to Valerius ; and the Dictator laid down his office, calling 
gods and men to witness that he was not responsible for his 
breach of faith. 

§ 8. The Plebeians whom Valerius had led forth were still 
under arms, still bound by their military oath ; and Appius, with 
the violent Patricians, refused to disband them. The army, 
therefore, having lost Valerius, their proper general, chose two 
of themselves, L. Junius Brutus and L. Sicinius Bellutus by 
name, and under their command they marched northwards and 
occupied the hill which commands the junction of the Tiber and 
the Anio. Here, at a distance of about two miles from Rome, 
they determined to settle and form a new city, leaving Rome to 
the Patricians and their Clients. But the latter were not willing 
to lose the best of their soldiery, the cultivators of the greater 
part of the Roman territory, and they sent repeated embassies to 
persuade the seceders to return. They, however, turned a deaf 
ear to all promises ; for they had too often been deceived. 
Appius now urged the Senate and Patricians to leave the Plebeians 
to themselves ; the Nobles and their Clients, he said, could well 
maintain themselves in the city without such base aid. 



Chap. VIL THE TRIBUNATE. * 93 

§ 9. But wiser sentiments prevailed. T. Lartius, and M. Va- 
lerius, both of -wliom had been Dictators, with Menenius Agrippa, 
an old Patrician of popular character, were empowered to treat 
with the people. Still their leaders were, unwilling to listen, till 
old Menenius addressed them in the famous fable of the Belly 
and the Members : — 

" In times of old," said he, " when every Member of the body 
could think for itself, and each had a separate will of its own, 
they all, with one consent, resolved to revolt against the Belly. 
They knew no reason, they said, why they should toil from morn- 
ing till night in its service, while the Belly lay at its ease in the 
midst of all, and indolently grew fat upon their labours. Ac- 
cordingly, they agreed to support it no more. The feet vowed 
they would carry it no longer; the hands that they would do 
no more work; the teeth that they would not chew a morsel 
of meat, even were it placed between them. Thus resolved, the 
Members for a time showed their spirit and kept their resolution ; 
but soon they found, that instead of mortifying the Belly, they 
only undid themselves : they languished for awhile, and per- 
ceived too late that it was owing to the Belly that they had 
strength to work and courage to mutiny." 

§ 10. The moral of this fable was plain. The people readily 
applied it to the Patricians and themselves ; and their leaders 
proposed terms of agreement to the Patrician messengers. They 
required that the debtors who could not pay should have their 
debts cancelled; and that those who had been given up into 
slavery (addicti) should be restored to freedom. This for the 
past. And as a security for the future, they demanded that 
two of themselves should be appointed for the sole purpose of 
protecting the Plebeians against the Patrician magistrates, if 
they acted cruelly or unjustly towards the debtors. The two 
officers thus to be appointed were called Tribunes of the Plebs. 
Their persons were to be sacred and inviolable during their year 
of office, whence their office is called "sacrosancta Potestas." 
They were never to leave the city during that time ; and their 
houses were to be open day and night, that all who needed their 
aid might demand it without delay. 

§ 11. This concession, apparently great, was much modified 
by the fact that the Patricians insisted on the election of the 
Tribunes being made at the Comitia of the Centuries, in which 
they themselves and their wealthy clients could usually com- 
mand a majority.* In later times, the number of the Tribunes 

* That the election must have been so conducted' is manifest from Liv. ii. 56, 
where he says that the object of the Publihan Law was to take away from the 
Patricians the power of "per clientium suffragia creandi quos vellent Irl 



94 * EOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book IL 

was increased to five, and afterwards to ten. They were 
elected at the Comitia of the Tribes, as we shall have to notice 
presently. They had the privilege of attending all sittings of the 
Senate, though they were not considered members of that famous 
body. Above all, they acquired the great and perilous power of 
the Veto, by which any one of their number might stop any 
law, or annul any decree of the Senate, without cause or reason 
assigned. This right of Veto was called the right of Inter- 
cession. 

On the spot where this treaty was made, an altar was built to 
Jupiter, the Causer and Banisher of Fear ; for the Plebeians had 
gone thither in fear and returned from it in safety. The place 
was called Mons Sacer, or the Sacred Hill,, for ever after, and the 
laws by which the sanctity of the tribunitian ofiice was secured 
were called the Leges Sacrata3. 

§ 12. The Tribunes were not properly magistrates or officers, 
for they had no express functions or official duties to discharge. 
They were simply Representatives and Protectors of the 
Plebs. At the same time, however, with the institution of these 
protective officers, the Plebeians were allowed the right of 
having two ^diles chosen from their own body, whose business 
it was to preserve order and decency in the streets, to provide 
for the repair of all buildings and roads there, with other 
functions partly belonging to police-officers, and partly to com- 
missioners of public works. 

bunos." When, therefore, Ascomus (in Gornelianam, p. "76, ed. Orelli) says 
"Tribuni Plebis Comitiis Ouriatis creati," and when Dionysius (vi. 89, ix. 41) 
follows the same notion, there must be some mistake. 




5-eSft. 



Tarpeian Kock. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

AGRARIAN LAW. THK ELECTION OF THE TRIBUNES TRANSFERRED 
TO THE TRIBES. 

5 1. Sp. Cassius, Patrician, patron of the Plebeians : proposes an Agrarian 
Law. § 2. Nature of Agrarian Laws. § 3. The Patricians allow Law to 
pass. § 4. Sp. Cassius condemned for aiming at kingly power. § 5. His 



96 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. BOOK IT. 

fall increases power of Patricians : seven Consulships of Fabii. § 6. But 
boldness of Tribunes also increases : a Consul impeached by Tribune Genu- 
cius, who is murdered. § 1. Volero Publilius refuses to enlist. § 8. 
Chosen Tribune : Publihan Law, enacting that Tribunes should be chosen 
by Tribes. § 9. Second Appius Claudius elected Consul to oppose Law : 
in vain. Five Tribunes henceforth elected at Comitia Tributa^ 

§ 1. The small beginning of political independence whicli the 
Plebeians had gained by tlie institution of the Tribunate, seemed 
likely to be mucli farthered by the unexpected appearance of a 
patron of their order in the ranks of" the Patricians themselves. 
This was Spurius Cassius, a notable man. He was three times 
Consul. In his second Consulship he concluded a league with 
the Latins, and in his third Consulship a similar league with the 
Hernicans, by which the united people of Rome, Latium, and 
the Hernicans bound themselves to check the alarming advance 
lately made by the Volscians. But of this we will speak in the 
next chapter. At present we have to treat of another remark- 
able act of the third Consulship of Sp. Cassius, Avhich was the 
proposal of the first Agrarian Law. 

§ 2. Great mistakes formerly prevailed on the nature of the 
Roman laws familiarly termed Agrarian. It was supposed that 
by these laws all land was declared common property, and that 
at certain intervals of time the state assumed possession,, and 
made a fresh distribution thereof to all citizens, rich and poor. 
It is needless to make any remarks on the nature and conse- 
quences of such a law ; sufficient it will be to say, what is now 
known to all, that at Rome such laws never existed, never were 
thought of. The lands which were to be distributed by Agra- 
rian laws were not private property, but the property of the state. 
They were, originally, those Public Lands which had been the 
Domain of the Kings ; and which were increased whenever any 
city or people was conquered by the Romans, because it was an 
Italian practice to confiscate the lands of the conquered, in 
whole or in part, to the use and benefit of the conquering 
people. 

Now at this time, as has been shown, the Patrician Burgesses 
in eff"ect constituted the Populus, and they had occupied the 
greater part, if not all, of this Public Land. This land, as has 
also been said, chiefly consisted of pasturage ; and it was ma- 
nifest that if the Plebeians could add to their small farms, which 
were mostly in tillage, the right of feeding cattle upon these 
lands, their means would be much increased, and they were 
likely to become much less dependent upon the rich Patrician 
Burgesses. 



<^HAP. VIIL SP. CASSIUS. 97 

§ 3. It is said in the Annals that Servius Tullius was author 
of the first Agrarian regulations. He divided, we are told, part of 
the domain land among the poorer Plebeians, probably at the rate 
of seven jugera (about 4^ acres) a man ; for this is the rule that 
we find adopted at the expulsion of the Kings.* Whether these 
ancient assignments of land took efi'ect, and whether the pro- 
posal of Spurius Cassius was merely intended to carry them into 
execution, or was a further law of the same character, Ave have 
no means of judging. On either supposition, the relief of the 
Plebeians would be of the same kind. And as the Patricians en- 
joyed the use and profit of all Public Lands that had not already 
been divided, it is not unnatural that they should have resisted 
any such law with the utmost vehemence and pertinacity. 

Such indeed was the case. But Sp. Cassius, the proposer of the 
law, was Consul for the third time (486 b.c). His services to the 
state had been great ; his ofiicial power was great. The remem- 
brance of the Secession to the Sacred Mount was yet fresh ; 
and the law, after passing the Centuriate Comitia, was not re- 
jected by the Patrician Burgesses in their Curiae. They calculated 
that it would be more easy to thwart the execution of the law, 
than to prevent its being passed. And they calculated rightly. 

§ 4. But though the Patricians had yielded thus far, they only 
waited for an opportunity of seeking vengeance. When Sp. 
Cassius laid down his Consulship, that opportunity arrived. It 
Avas said, that in the Leagues formed with the Latins and Her- 
nicansf he had granted terms too favourable to these people, 
and was seeking to make himself despotic lord of Rome by means 
of foreigners, as Tarquin had done. It appears that there was 
some colour for this last accusation. Indeed, it is not unlikely, 
that a man such as Spurius Cassius may have contemplated 
overthrowing the patrician Oligarchy, and making himself a King 
like Servius Tullius. But whether his views were simply ambi- 
tious, or whether they were directed to the true interests of the 
community, the very name of King had become hateful to Roman 
ears. Sp. Cassius was accused by Ka?so Fabius, then head 
of one of the most powerful patrician Gentes. He Avas tried, no 
doubt before a patrician court, found guilty, and condemned to 
die the death of a traitor. He was scourged and beheaded, and 
his house razed to the ground. 

Such was the end of Spurius Cassius, a man little mentioned 
in the Annals of Rome, and who Avould be forgotten, were it not 
that the mere record of his acts at home and abroad, the Agra- 
"ian law, and the treaties concluded by him with the Latins and 
Hernicans, have worthily preserved his name. His enterprise 
* Plin, Hist. Nat. xviii. 4. f See Chapt. ix. g 6. 

5 



98 ROME UNDER THE PATB,IOIANS. Book IL 

and his end have been aptly compared with those of Agis at 
Sparta, or of Marino Faliero at Venice, who like him endea- 
voured to overthrow the power of the close and selfish oligarchy 
to which they respectively belonged. 

§ 5. It is remarkable that for seven successive years after this 
event, a Fabius appears as one of the two Consuls ; and we con- 
stantly find one Consul in the interest of the high patrician 
party, while the other indicates more popular sentiments. These 
signs, together with some indistinct notices in two of our ancient 
authorities, led Niebuhr to conclude that at this time the Patri- 
cians obtained the power of electing one of the Consuls at their 
own Curiate Assembly, while in some years they even appointed 
both. Later inquiries, however, have made it probable that the 
Consuls were always elected at the great Assembly of the Classes 
and Centuries. The great influence Avhich the Patricians had in 
this Assembly, by means of their own wealth and that of their 
Clients, must have given them at least a great preponderance in 
all elections ; and it is possible, that for the sake of peace, some 
arrangement may have been made by which one Consul was ge- 
nerally returned in the Patrician interest, and the other in the 
Plebeian. Such compromises are common in all elections. But 
when party-spirit ran very high, the Patricians might return both 
of the chief magistrates themselves.* 

§ 6. The same preponderating influence which enabled the 
Patricians to command the consular elections, gave them power 
also to control the choice of the Tribunes of the Plebs, except 
that as both Consuls must be Patricians, so both Tribunes must 
be Plebeians. It is evident, that in order to make the Tribunes 
really the representatives and protectors of their order, they 
must be chosen by that- order. Still, notwithstanding the mode 
of their election, energetic men had been found to put forth the 
power with which they were invested by the sanctity of the tri- 
bunitian ofllice. The Patricians had successfully impeded the 
execution of the Agrarian law of Cassius. But three years after, 
a Tribune named Msenius, declared that he would prevent the 
militia from being called out to take the field against the 
Volscian and ^quian foe, till this grievance was redressed. He 
offered, that is, in virtue of his protective powers, to secure any 
plebeian soldier against the power of the Consul, should he refuse 
to obey the order to give in his name for active service ; and 
another Tribune, named Licinius, renewed the same attempt in 
the next year. These first essays of their newly gained power 
Avere the origin of that tremendous intercessory force, which in 

* On this question see Niebular, ii. 119 sqq., with the remarks of Becker, 
Antiqq. ii. part ii. p. 93. 



Chap. VIII. SP. CASSIUS. 99 

later times was so freely exercised. At present the attempt 
proved an empty threat. The Consuls held their levy outside 
the walls of the city, where tliey possessed power of life and 
death, and where the Tribunes' protective power availed not. 
The next attempt of the plebeian chiefs was more successful. 
The Tribunes of the year 476 B.C. publicly indicted the Consul 
Menenius, son of him who had done good service to the state at 
the Secession, for suffering the Fabian Gens to be overpoAvered 
by the Veientines, of which we shall speak presently ; and the 
Consul was condemned to pay a fine. At length, three years 
after (473), matters were brought to issue by the Tribune Genu- 
cius, who impeached the Consuls of the previous year for pre- 
venting the execution of the Agrarian law. Consternation pre- 
vailed among the Patricians. The condemnation of Menenius 
by the Centuries, notwithstanding the votes of the Clients, 
struck them with dismay ; and they resolved on striking a blow 
calculated to prevent such attempts in future. On the day of 
trial the Tribune appeared not. His friends sought him at home. 
He was found murdered in his chamber. 

§ 7. But the efi'ect produced was contrary to expectation. The 
flame which the Patricians expected to smother, was fanned to 
greater violence. The Consuls ordered a levy to take the field, 
confidently expecting tame submission. But when one Volero Pub- 
lilius, who had served as a Centurion, was called out as a private 
soldier, he refused to give his name, and appealed to the Tribunes 
for protection. They hung back, terrified by the fate of Genu- 
cius. But Volero threw himself among his compatriots ; a tu- 
mult arose, and the Consuls were obliged to take refuge in the 
Senate-house. 

§ 8. Volero Publilius was chosen one of the Tribunes for the en- 
suing year ; and he straightway proposed a law, by which it was 
provided that the Tribunes and ^diles of the Plebs should be 
elected by the Plebeians themselves at the Assembly of the Tribes 
in the Forum, not at the Assembly of the Centuries in the Field 
of Mars. This is usually called the Publilian law of Volero. 

§ 9. For a whole year, the Patricians succeeded in putting ofi" 
the law. But the Plebeians were determined to have it. Volero 
was re-elected Tribune ; and C. Lsetorius, a man of great resolu- 
tion, was chosen as his colleague : facts which show that in 
seasons of excitement the people were able to procure the elec- 
tion of their own friends even before the passing of the first Pub- 
lilian law. 

The more violent among the Patricians now prepared to pre- 
vent this measure from being accepted by any means. App. 
Claudjs, son of him whose haughty opposition had provoked 



100 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. 

the secession to the Sacred Mount, had succeeded his father as 
the bitterest and most determined foe of the Plebs, and was 
chosen Consul by his party. The law was again brought forward 
by the new Tribunes ; and the new Consul, attended by his lictors, 
appeared at the Comitia of the Tribes to interrupt the proceed- 
ings. Lsetorius ordered him to withdraw ; and a general riot 
followed, which was only stopped by the intervention of the 
other Consul, T. Quinctius. But the Tribunes were resolved to 
have their law carried, and by a sudden movement they occupied 
the Capitol itself, and defied all the attacks of the Patricians. 
Appius proposed, as of old, to reduce them by force, but the 
milder counsels of his colleague again prevailed, and the Patricians 
(by the authority of the Senate) passed the Publiiian law. 

In the next year (470) five Tribunes were elected by the 
Plebeians themselves, without let or hindrance from the Patrician 
Burgesses. Thus, no doubt, these officers became real pro- 
tectors of their brethren. But their powers were too large and 
unrestricted, and the fruits of the absolute veto which they 
afterwards learped to exercise will amply appear in the course 
cf our subsequent narrative. 




Coin bearing the DioscurL 







Tivoli, looking over the Campagna. 



CHAPTER IX. 

WARS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS FROM THE BATTLE OF' LAKE REGILLUS 
TO THE DECEMVIRATE. (496 450 B.C.) 

§ 1. Great decrease of Eoman power. § 2. Vagueness in history of Wars: 
famous Legends. § 3. Volscian "Wars: Legend of Coriolanus. § 4. ^quian 
Wars: Legend of Cincinnatus. § 5. Veientine Wars: Legend of Fabian 
Gens. § 6. Leagues formed by Spurius Cassius with the Latins and Her- 
nicans the true barriers against ^qui and Volsci. § 7. Importance of these 
Leagues to Latias as well as to Rome. § 8. Diiration of Latin League. 

§ 1. AVhile the two Orders were thus engaged in struggling for 
rights and privileges in the city, they were hard pressed upon 
their frontiers by the advancing power of the Volscians and the 
^quians. 

Nothing can show the decrease of Roman power more than the 
facts which are incidentally disclosed by this history. It appears 
that, soon after the Secession, the Volscians, descending from 
their hills, had taken not only the remote Latin cities of Terra- 
cina, Circeii, Antium, Satricum, and others ; but also captured 



102 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. 

Lavinium, Corioli, Lavici, Pedum, and otlier cities within sight 
of Rome. The Aequians also pressed on from the north-east ; 
at one time they were in possession of the citadel of Tusculum, 
and shut up the Roman Consul within the Roman territory. 

At the same time, the Etruscans of Veii, who had recovered 
the lands taken from them by Rome under the later Kings, con- 
tinually appeared in force upon the opposite banks of the Tiber, 
and threatened the Janiculum, which the Romans still retained. 

§ 2. To the readers of Livy nothing is more wearying than the 
monotonous iteration, with which he repeats the story of the 
victories won by Roman Consuls, over enemies who always appear 
next year unbroken and ready for fresh conflicts. He himself 
felt the weariness in recording these unsubstantial conflicts, and 
we shall here not think it necessary to follow him.* 

But there are some famous legends connected with these three- 
fold wars, which cannot be omitted by any writer of Roman 
history. These are the legends of Coriolanus, X)f Cincinnatus, 
and of the Fabian Gens. The exact time to which they refer is 
uncertain ; nor is it material to determine. 

§ 3. Legend of Coriolanus and the Yolscians. 

Caius Marcius was a youth of high patrician family, descended 
from the Sabine king, Ancus Marcius ; and he was brought up 
by his mother Volumnia, a true Roman matron, noble and ge- 
nerous, proud and stern, implacable towards enemies, unfor- 
giving towards the faults of friends. Caius grew up with all the 
faults and virtues of his mother, and was soon found among +he 
chief opponents of the Plebeians. He won a civic crown of oak 
for saving a fellow-citizen at the battle of Lake Regillus, when 
he was seventeen years of age. But he gained his chief fame in 
the Volscian wars. For the Romans, being at war with this 
people, attacked Corioli, a Latin city which then had fallen into 
the hands of the Volscians. But the assailants were driven back 
by the garrison ; when Caius Marcius rallied the fugitives, turned 
upon his pursuers, and, driving them back in turn, entered the 
gates along with them ; and the city fell into the hands of the 
Romans. For this brave conduct he was named after the city 
which he had taken, Caius Marcius Coriolanus. 

Now it happened, after this, that the Roman people being much 
distressed by having their lands ravaged in war, and tillage being 
neglected, a great dearth ensued. Then Gelon, the Greek king 
of Syracuse, sent them ships laden with corn to relieve the 
distress. It was debated in the Senate how this corn should be 

* " Non dubito" (he says naively), "prseter satietatem, tot jam libria 
assidua bella . . . legentibus id quoque succursurum (quod mihi miraculo fuit), 
undo toties victis Volscis et Aequis suflfecerint milites." — ^vi. 12. 



Chap. IX. CORlOLANUS. 103 

distributed. Some were for giving it away to the poorer sort ; 
some were for selling it at a low jDrice ; but Coriolanus, who was 
greatly enraged at the concessions that had been made to the 
Plebeians, and hated to see them protected by the new officers, 
the Tribunes, spoke vehemently against these proposals, and 
said : " Why do they ask us for corn ? They have got their 
Tribunes. Let them go back to the Sacred Hill, and leave us to 
rule alone. Or let them give up their Tribunes, and then they 
shall have the corn." This insolent language wrought up the 
Plebeians to a height of fury against Caius Marcius, and they 
would have torn him in pieces ; but their Tribunes persuaded 
them to keep their hands oft'; and then cited him before the 
Comitia to give account of his conduct. The main body 
of the Patricians were not inclined to assist X^oriolanus ; so, 
after some violent struggles, he declined to stand his trial, but 
left Eome, shaking the dust from his feet against his thank- 
less countrymen (for so he deemed them), and vowing that they 
should bitterly repent of having driven Caius Marcius Coriolanus 
into exile." 

He went straight to Antium, another Latin city which had 
become the capital of the Volscians, and going to the house of 
Attus Tullius, one of the chief men of the nation, he seated him- 
self near the hearth by the household gods, a place which among 
the Italian nations was held sacred. When Tullius entered, the 
Roman rose and greeted his former enemy : " My name (he said) 
is Caius Marcius : my surname, Coriolanus — the only reward 
now remaining for all my services. I am an exile from Rome, 
my country; I seek refuge in the house of my enemy. If ye 
will use my services, I will serve you well ; if ye would rather 
take vengeance on me, strike, I am ready." 

Tullius at once accepted the offer of the " banished lord ;" and 
determined to break the treaty which there then was between 
his people and the Romans. But the Volscians were afraid to 
go to war. So Tullius had recourse to fraud. It happened that 
one Titus Atinius, a Plebeian of Rome, was warned in a dream to 
go to the Consuls, and order them to celebrate the Great Games 
over again, because they had not been rightly performed the first 
time. But he was afraid and would not go. Then his son fell 
sick and died ; and again he dreamt the same dream ; but still 
he would not go. Then he was himself stricken with palsy; 
and so he delayed no longer, but made his friends carry him on 
a litter to the Consuls. And they believed his words, and the 
Great Games were begun again with increased^pomp ; and many 
of the Volscians, being at peace with Rome, came to see them. 
^Jpon this Tullius went secretly to the Consuls, and told them 



104 EOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. 

that his countrymen were thronging to Rome, and he feared 
they had mischief in their thoughts. Then the Consuls laid this 
secret information before the Senate; and the Senate decreed 
that all Yolscians should depart from Rome before sunset. 
This decree seemed to the Volscians to be a wanton insult, 
and they went home in a rage. TuUius met them on their way 
home at the fountain of Ferentina, where the Latins had been 
wont to hold their councils of old; and he spoke to them, and 
increased their anger, and persuaded them to break off their 
treaty with the Romans. So the Volscians made war against 
Rome, and chose Attus Tullius and Caius Marcius the Roman 
to be their, commanders. 

The army advanced against Rome, ravaging and laying waste 
all the lands of the Plebeians, but letting those of the Patricians 
remain untouched. This increased the jealousy between the 
Orders, and the Consuls found it impossible to raise an army to 
go out against the enemy. Coriolanus took one Latin town 
after another, and even the Volscians deserted their own general 
to serve under his banners. He now advanced and encamped at 
the Cluilian Foss, within five miles of the city. 

Nothing was now to be seen within the walls but consterna- 
tion and despair. The temples of the gods were filled with 
suppliants ; the Plebeians themselves pressed the Senate to make 
peace with the terrible Coriolanus. Meantime the enemy 
advanced to the very gates of the city, and at length the Senate 
agreed to send five men, chiefs among the Patricians, to turn 
away the anger of their countryman. He received them with 
the utmost sternness ; said that he was now general of the Vol- 
scians, and must do what was best for his new friends ; that if 
they wished for peace they must restore all the lands and places 
that had been taken from the Volscians, and must admit these 
people to an equal league, and put them on an equal footing with 
the Latins. The deputies could not accept these terms; so they 
returned to Rome. The Senate sent them back, to ask for 
milder terms; but the haughty exile would not suffer them to 
enter his camp. 

Then went forth another deputation, graver and more solemn 
than the former, — the Pontiffs, Flamens, and Augurs, all attired 
in their priestly robes, who besought him, by all that he held 
sacred, by the respect he owed to his country's gods, to give 
them assurance of peace and safety. He treated them with 
grave respect, but sent them away without relaxing any of his 
demands. 

It seemed as if the glory of Rome were departing, as if the 
crown were about to be transferred to the cities of the Volscians. 



Chap. IX. CORIOLANUS. 105 

But not so was it destined to be. It chanced that as all the 
women were weeping and praying in the temples, the thought 
arose among .them that they might effect what Patricians 
and Priests had alike failed to do. It was Valeria, the 
sister of the great Valerius Poplicola, who first started the 
thought, and she prevailed on Volumnia, the stern mother of 
the exile, to accompany the mournful train. With them also 
went Virgilia, his wife, leading her two boys by the hand, and a 
crowd of other women. Coriolanus beheld them from afar, as 
he was sitting on a raised seat among the Volscian chiefs, and 
resolved to send back them also with a denial. But when they 
came near, and he saw his mother at the head of the sad pro- 
cession, he sprang from his seat, and was about to kiss her. But 
she drew back with all the loftiness of a Roman matron, and 
said — " Art thou Caius Marcius, and am I thy mother ? or art 
thou the general of the Volscian foe, and I a prisoner in his 
camp ? Before thou kissest me, answer me that question." 
Caius stood silent, and his mother went on : " Shall it be said 
that it is to me — to me alone — that Rome owes her conqueror 
and oppressor ? Had I never been a mother, my country had still 
been free. But I am too old to feel this misery long. Look to 
thy wife and little ones ; thou art enslaving thy country, and with 
it thou enslavest them." The fierce Roman's heart sunk before 
the indignant words of her whom he had feared and respected 
from his childhood ; and when his wife and children hanging 
about him added their soft prayers to the lofty supplications of 
his mother, he turned to her with bitterness of soul, and said — 
" O my mother, thou hast saved Rome, but lost thy son !" 

So he drew off his army, and the women went back to Rome 
and were hailed as the saviours of their country. And the 
Senate ordered a temple to be built and dedicated to " Woman's 
Fortune" (Fortuna Muliebris) ; and Valeria was the first priestess 
of the temple."* 

But Coriolanus returned to dwell among the Volscians ; and 
Tullius, who had before become jealous of his superiority, ex- 
cited the people against him, saying that he had purposely 
spared their great enemy the city of Rome, even when it was 
within their grasp. So he lost favour, and was slain in a tumult ; 
and the words he had spoken to his mother were truly fulfilled. 

This is the famous Legend of Coriolanus, which is dear 
to us, because it has been wrought by Shakspere into one of his 
noblest tragedies. Nothing can exceed the truth and force with 
which he has drawn the character of the haughty Patrician ; 
but it must be observed that the Tribunes and Plebeians of the 
* That of Fortuna Virilis had been built by Servius luUius. 
5* 



106 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. 

play rather represent the turbulent mob of the times of Marius 
and Csesar, than the sturdy countrymen who formed the people 
of Rome in those early days. 

§ 4. Legend of Cincinnatus and the ^quians. 

In the course of these wars, Minucius, one of the Consuls, 
suffered himself to be cut off from Rome in a narrow valley of 
Mount Algidus, and it seemed as if hope of delivery there was 
none. ■ However, five horsemen found means to escape and 
report at Rome the perilous condition of the Consul and his army. 
Then the other Consul consulted the Senate, and it was agreed 
that the only man who could deliver the army was L. Quinc- 
tius Cincinnatus. Therefore this man was named Dictator, and 
deputies were sent to acquaint him with his high dignity. 

Now this Lucius Quinctius was called Cincinnatus, because he 
wore his hair in long curling locks (cincinni) ; and, though he 
was a Patrician, he lived on his own small farm, like any ple- 
beian yeomen. This farm was beyond the Tiber,* and here he 
lived contentedly with his wife Racilia. 

Two years before he had been Consul, and had been brought 
into great distress by the conduct of his son Kseso. This Kses© 
Quinctius was a wild and insolent young man, who despised the 
Plebeians, and hated their Tribunes, like Coriolanus. Like Corio- 
lanus, he was impeached by the Tribunes, but on very different 
grounds. One Volscius Fictor alleged that he and his brother, 
an old and sickly man, had been attacked by Kseso and a party 
of young Patricians by night in the Suburra ; his brother had 
died of the treatment then received. The indignation of the 
people rose high ; and Kseso, again like Coriolanus, was forced to 
go into exile. After this the young patricians became more 
insolent than ever, but they courted the poorest of the people, 
hoping to engage them on their side against the more respect- 
able Plebeians. Next year all Rome was alarmed by finding that 
the Capitol had been seized by an enemy during the night. This 
enemy was Appius Herdonius, a Sabine, and with him was asso- 
ciated a band of desperate men, exiles and runaway slaves. The 
first demand he made was that all Roman exiles should be 
restored. The Consul, P. Valerius, collected a force, and took 
the Capitol. But he was himself killed in the assault, and L. 
Quinctius Cincinnatus, father of the banished Kseso, was chosen 
to succeed him. When he heard the news of his elevation, he 
turned to his wife and said, — " I fear, Racilia our little field 
must remain this year unsown." Then he assumed the robe of 

* Within the entrenched limits of Janiculum, we must suppose ; for all the 
rest of the Trans-Tiberine land had been restored in the time of Porsenna to 
the Veientinea. 



Chap. IX. CINCINNATUS. 107 

state, and went to Kome. Now it was believed that Kseso had 
been concerned in the desperate enterprise that had just been de- 
feated. What had become of him was unknown ; but that he was 
ah'eady dead was pretty certain ; and his father was very bitter 
against the Tribunes and their party, to whom he attributed his 
son's disgrace and death, P. Valerius, the Consul, had persuaded 
the Plebeians to join in the assault of the Capitol, by promising to 
gain them further privileges : this promise Cincinnatus refused to 
keep, and used all his power to frustrate the attempts of the Tri- 
bunes to gain its fulfilment. At the end of his year of office, how- 
ever, when the Patricians wished to continue him in the consul- 
ship, he positively declined the offer, and returned to his rustic life 
as if he had never left it. 

It was two years after these events, that the deputies of the 
Senate, who came to invest him with the ensigns of dictatorial 
power, found him working on his little farm. He was clad in 
his tunic only ; and as the deputies advanced, they bade him put 
on his toga, that he might receive the commands of the Senate in 
seemly guise. So he wiped off the dust and sweat, the signs of 
labour, and bade his wife fetch his toga, and asked anxiously 
whether all was right or no. Then the deputies told him how the 
army was beset by the ^quian foe, and how the Senate looked to 
him as the saviour of the state. A boat was provided to carry him 
over the Tiber ; and when he reached the other bank, he was 
greeted by his family and friends and the greater part of the 
Senate, who followed him to the city, while he himself walked in 
state, with his four-and-twenty lictors. 

Cincinnatus then chose L. Tarquitius as his Master of the Horse. 
This man was a Patrician, but, like the Dictator, was poor, — so 
poor, that he could not keep a horse, but was obliged to serve 
among the foot-soldiers. 

That same day the Dictator and his Master of the Horse came 
down into the Forum, ordered all shops to be shut, and all busi- 
ness to be suspended. All men of the military age were to meet 
them in the Field of Mars before sunset, each man with five days' 
provisions and twelve stakes ; the older men were to get the pro- 
visions ready, while the soldiers were preparing the stakes. Thus 
all was got ready in time : the Dictator led them forth ; and they 
marched so rapidly, that by midnight they had reached Mount 
Algidus, where the army of the Consul Avas hemmed in. 

Then the Dictator, when he had discovered the place of 
the enemy's army, ordered his men to put all their baggage 
down in one place, and then to surround the enemy's camp. 
They obeyed, and each one raising a shout, began digging the 
trench and fixing his stakes, so as to form a palisade round the 



108 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. BOOK 11. 

enemy. The Consul's army, which was hemmed in, heard the 
shout of their brethren, and flew to arms ; and so hotly did they 
fight all night, that the vEquians had no time to attend to the new 
foe, and next morning they found themselves hemmed in on all 
sides by the trench and palisade, so that they were now between 
two Koman armies. They were thus forced to surrender. The Dic- 
tator required them to give up their chiefs, and made their whole 
army pass under the yoke, which was formed by two spears fixed 
upright in the ground, and a third bound across them at the top. 

Cincinnatus returned to Rome amid the shouts and exultation 
of his soldiers : they gave him a golden crown, in token that he 
had saved the lives of many citizens ; and the Senate decreed that 
he should enter the city in triumph. 

So Cincinnatus accomplished the purpose for which he had been 
made Dictator in twenty-four hours. One evening he marched 
forth to deliver the Consul, and the next evening he returned vic- 
torious. 

But he would not lay down his high ofiice till he had avenged 
his son Kseso. Accordingly he summoned Volscius Fictor, the 
accuser, and had him tried for perjury. The man was condemned 
and banished ; and then Cincinnatus once more returned to his 
wife and farm. 

§ 5. Legend of the Fabian Gens and the Veientines. 

It has already been related that, after the final expulsion of the 
Tarquins, the Patricians withdrew from the Plebeians those 
rights which they had originally obtained from King Servius, and 
which had been renewed and confirmed to them during the time 
that the Tarquins were endeavouring to return. And for a 
number of years it appears that the Fabii engrossed a great 
share of this power to themselves. For we find in the lists of 
Consuls that for seven years running (from 485 to 479 B.C.), one 
of the two Consuls Avas always a Fabius. Now these Fabii were 
the chief opponents of the Agrarian Law ; and Kseso Fabius, who 
was three times Consul in the said seven years, was the person 
who procured the condemnation of Sp. Cassius, the great friend 
of the Plebeians. This Kasso, in his second Consulship, found 
himself as unpopular as Appius Claudius. His soldiers refused 
to fight against the enemy. But in his third Consulship, which 
fell in the last of the seven years, he showed an altered spirit, 
he and all his house. For the Fabii saw the injustice they had 
been guilty of towards the Plebeians, and the injury they 
had been doing to the state ; and Kseso himself came forward 
and proposed that the Agrarian Law of Sp. Cassius should be 
carried into full eff'ect. But the Patricians rejected the proposal 
with scorn ; and so the whole Fabian Gens determined to leave 



Chap. IX. THE FABII AT THE CRBMERA. 109 

Kome altogetlier. They thought they could serve their country 
better by warring against the Veientines than by remaining at 
home. So they assembled together on the Quirinal Hill, in all 
three hundred and six men, besides their clients and followers, and 
they passed under the Capitol, and went out of the city by the 
right-hand arch of the Carmental gate.* They then crossed the 
Tiber, and marked out a place on the little river Cremera, which 
flows into the Tiber below Veii. Here they fortified a camp, and 
sallied forth to ravage the lands of the Veientines and drive their 
cattle. 

So they stood between Rome and Veii for more than a year's 
time, and the Romans had peace on that side, whereas the Veien- 
tines suffered greatly. But there was a certain day, the Ides of 
rebruary,f which was always held sacred by the Fabii, when they 
offered solemn sacrifices on the Quirinal Hill J to the gods of their 
Gens. On this day, Kseso, their chief, led them forth for Rome ; 
and the Veientines, hearing of it, lay in ambush for them, and 
they were all cut off. And the Plebeians greatly mourned the 
loss of their patrician friends, and Menenius, the Consul, who 
was encamped near at hand, but did not assist them, Avas accused 
by the Tribunes of treacherously betraying them, as has been 
above recorded.§ 

But one young Fabius, who was then a boy, was left behind at 
Rome when the rest of his Gens went forth to settle on the Cre- 
mera. And he ♦(so it was said) was the father of the Fabii who 
Avere afterwards so famous in the history of Rome. 

After this, it is said, the men of Veii asked and obtained a peace 
of forty years. 

§ 6. Though these poetic legends are so much more copious 
than the scanty facts recorded by the Annals, these last furnish 
us with the true account of the manner in which the victorious 
inroads of the Volscians and ^quians were turned back, and 
their encroachments stayed. Here also the name of Spurius 
Cassius, albeit not celebrated in the legends, must claim our 
chief attention. The patrician minstrels who sang of Coriolanus 
and Cincinnatus left his acts unnoticed. But not the less may 
we be sure that it was the Leagues formed by him with the 

* Called the right Janus or Janua. So Ovid says {Fasti, ii. 201): — 
" Cannenti Portse dextro via proxima Jano est : 
Ire per hanc noli quisquis es : omen habet." 
I " Hsec ftiit ille dies, in quo Veientibus arvis 

Ter centum Falaii, ter cecidere duo." — Ovm, Fasti, ii. 195. 
X This seems to show that they were Sabines of the Titian tribe. Sea. 
Niebuhr, vol. i. note 810. 
§ Chapt viii. § 6. 



110 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. BOOK XL 

Latins and Hernicans wliich. really stemmed the tide of conquest, 
and saved Latium from the dominion of these Oscan tribes. The 
first of these Leagues was made in the second Consulship of Cas- 
sius (e.g. 493), the second in the third Consulship (b.c. 486). It 
was stipulated by the first that the people of Eome and Latium 
should form a combined army for the purpose of repelling the 
invader ; their Legions were united imder the same forms, and in 
like manner ; and it is probable that in one year a Roman Con- 
sul, in another a Latin Dictator, took the supreme command. 
The League with the Hernicans was probably of a less intimate 
nature. In both it seems to have been agreed that all lands 
taken from the enemy should be shared alike by the combined 
nations. 

§ Y. The geographical sketch above given will show the im- 
portance of these Leagues, especially of the second, for the defence 
of Rome. The League of Rome and Latium was as much a de- 
fensive measure on the part of the Latins as on that of the Romans. 
It was chiefly Latin towns that had become the booty of the con- 
querors. The Hernicans, in their upland valleys, were probably 
less exposed to the common danger. But their position between 
the Volscian and -i^quian hills was such, that when either of these 
tribes sallied down to attack the cities of Latium, their flank and 
rear lay exposed to the assaults of the Hernicans. We have no 
detailed accounts to show how these advantages were used. But 
from the time of these Leagues we may date th# declining power 
of the Oscan tribes, who had one time overrun Latium, and pre- 
sented themselves before the walls of Rome. Velitrse, Antium, 
Satricum, and other places were recovered ; and to Antium a 
colony was sent to restore its wasted population. 

§ 8. The League formed by Spurius Cassius with the Latins, 
cemented as it was by common interest and common danger, re- 
gained unaltered till the Gauls broke into Latium, and with their 
furious onslaught confounded all that existed of order and associa- 
tion. The formation of an alliance which lasted unbroken for 
more than a century, and which then gave way under the pressure 
of an unforeseen calamity, speaks of no ordinary prudence and 
foresight on the part of him who formed it. Yet this act was, as 
we have seen, turned into an article of impeachment against Spu- 
rius Cassius.* 

* Chapt. viii. § 4. 




Castor and PoUus. 



CHAPTEE X, 



CONTINUED STRUaGLE BETWEEN THE ORDERS. THE DECEMVIRATE. 

(470—449 B.C.) 

§1. Progress of Plebeians : Colony of Antium. impeacliment of second Appius. 
§ 2. Great pestilence. § 3. Eeform-bill of Terentilius Harsa. § 4. Violent 
scenes at Eome. § 5. Compromise : Triumvii's appointed to report upon 
Laws of Solon at Athens. § 6. Public Land on the Aventine parcelled out 
among Plebeians. § 1. Eeturn of Triumviri. § 8. Appoiatment of De- 
cemviri ; their functions : third Appius Claudius their chief. § 9. Ten 
Tables completed. § 10. Eesignation of first Decemvirs : successors elected, 
including Appius. §11. Change in bearing of Appius : despotism of new 
Decemvirs. § 12. Two Tables added to Code. § 13. Appius and col- 
leagues retain office for a second year. § 14. "Wars break out with ^quians 
and Sabines. § 15. Legend of Siccius Dentatus. § 16. Legend of Vir- 
ginia. § IT. Second Secession to Mons Sacer: Decemvirs resign. § 18. 
L. Valerius and M. Horatius sent to negotiate between Senate and Ple- 
beians : Ten Tribunes elected. § 19. Eestoration of Consulship ; Valerius 
and Horatius elected. § 20. Valerio-Horatian Laws. § 21. Triumph of 
new Consuls over Sabines and ^quians. § 22. Appius impeached and dies 
in prison: Appius .executed : the rest pardoned. § 23. Attempt tore-elect 
Consuls and Tribunes. 

§ 1. It Las been shown how tlie Patrician Burgesses endeavoured 
to wrest independence from the Plebs after the battle of Lake 
Eegillus ; and how the latter, ruined by constant wars with the 
neighbouring nations, compelled to make good their losses by- 
borrowing money from patrician creditors, and liable to become 
bondsmen in default of payment, at length deserted the city, and 
only returned on condition of being protected by Tribunes of 
their own ; and how, lastly, by the firmness of Publilius Volero 
and Lajtorius, they obtained the right of electing these Tribunes 
at their own assembly, the Comitia of the Tribes. It has also 



112 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. 

been shown tliat the great Consul Spurius Cassius endeavoured 
to relieve the commonalty by an Agrarian law, so as to better 
their condition permanently. 

The execution of the Agrarian law was constantly evaded, 
as we have seen. But, on the conquest of Antium from the 
Volscians in the year 468 B.C., a colony was sent thither ; and 
this was one of the first examples of a distribution of public 
land to poorer citizens, which answered two purposes — the im- 
provement of their condition, and the defence of the place against 
the enemy. 

Nor did the Tribunes, now made altogether independent of 
the Patricians, fail to assert their power. One of the first per- 
sons who felt the force of their arm was the second Appius 
Claudius. This Sabine noble, following his father's example, had, 
after the departure of the Fabii, led the opposition to the Pub- 
lilian law. When he took the field against the Volscians, his 
soldiers would not fight ; and the stern commander put to death 
every tenth man in his legions. For the acts of his consulship he 
Avas brought to trial by the Tribunes, M. Duillius and C. Sicinius. 
Seeing that the event was certain, the proud Patrician avoided 
humiliation by suicide.* 

§ 2. Nevertheless the border wars still continued, and the 
Plebeians still sufi'ered much. To the evils of debt and want 
Avere added about this time the horrors of pestilential disease, 
which visited the Eoman territory several times at that period. 
In one year (b.c. 464) the two Consuls, two of the four Augurs, 
and the Curio Maximus, who was the Head of all the Patricians, 
were swept ofl^ : a fact which implies the death of a vast number 
of less distinguished persons. The government was adminis- 
tered by the Plebeian JEdiles, under the control of senatorial 
Interreges.f The Volscians and JEquians ravaged the country 
up to the walls of Rome ; and the safety of the city must be attri- 
buted to the Latins and Hernicans, not to the men of Rome. 

§ 3. Meantime the Tribunes had in vain demanded a full 
execution of the Agrarian law. But in the year 462 b.c, one of 
the Sacred College, by name C. Terrentilius Harsa, came forward 
with a bill, of which the object was to give the Plebeians a surer 
footing in the state. This man perceived that as long as the 
Consuls retained their almost despotic power, and were elected 
by the influence of the Patricians, this Order had it in their 
power to thwart all measures, even after they were passed, which 
tended to advance the interests of the Plebeians. He therefore 
no longer demanded the execution of the Agrarian law, but pro- 

* So says Dionys. ix. 51. " Morbo moritur," says Livy, ii. 61. 
f Liv. iii. 6-8. 



Chap.X. TEEBNTILIAN law, liy 

posed that a commission of Ten Men (decemviri) should be 
appointed to draw up constitutional laws for regulating the future 
relations of the Patricians and Plebeians. 

§ 4. The Reform Bill of Terentilius was, as might be supposed, 
vehemently resisted by the Patrician Burgesses. But the Ple- 
beians supported their champion no less warmly. For five con- 
secutive years the same Tribunes were re-elected, and in vain 
endeavoured to carry the bill. This was the time which least 
fulfils the character Avhich we have claimed for the Eoman 
people — patience and temperance, combined with firmness in their 
demands. To prevent the Tribunes from carrying their law, the 
younger Patricians thronged to the Assemblies, and interfered 
with all proceedings ; Terentilius, they said, Avas endeavouring 
to confound all distinction between the Orders. Some scenes 
occurred which seem to show that both sides were prepared for 
civil Avar. 

In the year 460 B.C. the city was alarmed by hearing that the 
Capitol had been seized by a band of Sabines and exiled Romans, 
under the command of one Herdonius.* Who these exiles were 
is uncertain. But we have seen, in the legend of Cincinnatus, 
that Kseso Quinctius, the son of that old hero, was an exile. 
It has been inferred, therefore, that he was among them, that 
the Tribunes had succeeded in banishing from the city the 
most violent of their opponents, and that these persons had 
not scrupled to associate themselves with Sabines to recover 
their homes. The Consul Valerius, aided by the Latins of Tus- 
culum, levied an army to attack the insurgents, on condition- 
that after success the law should be fully considered. The exiles 
Avere driven out, and Herdonius was killed. But the Consul fell -f 
in the assault ; and the Patricians, led by old Cincinnatus, refused 
to fulfil his promises. 

Then foUoAved the danger of the ^quian invasion, to which the 
legend of Cincinnatus, as given above, refers. The stern old man 
used his dictatorial power quite as much to crush the Tribunes 
at home, as to conquer the enemies abroad. 

One of the historians tells us that in this period of seditious 
violence, many of the leading Plebeians were assassinated, as the 
Tribune Genucius had beeri ; and to this time only can be attri- 
buted the horrible story mentioned by more than one writer, 
that nine Tribunes Avere burnt alive at the instance of their _^ 
colleague Mucius.f Society was utterly disorganised. The two 

* The circumstances, as related in the legend, have already been given in 
the story of Cincinnatus. 

\ Dio Cassius, Fragment. Vatican, xxii., and in the abridgment by Zonaras, 
vii. It. Compare Yaler. Max. vi. 3, § 2. The latter atrributes it to the time 



114 EOMB UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book IL 

Orders were on tlie brink of civil war. It seemed as if Rome 
was to become the city of discord, not of law. Happily, there 
were moderate men in both Orders. Now, as at the time of: 
the Secession, their voices prevailed, and a compromise was 
arranged. 

§ 5. In the eighth year after the first promulgation of the 
Terentilian law, this compromise was made (454 b.c). The law 
itself was no longer pressed by the Tribunes. The Patricians, on 
the other hand, so far gave way as to allow Three Men (triumviri) 
to be appointed, who were to travel into Greece, and bring back 
a copy of the laws of Solon, as well as the laws and institutes 
of any other Greek states, which they might deem good and 
useful. These were to be the groundwork of a new Code of 
Laws, such as should give fair and equal rights to both Orders, 
and restrain the arbitrary power of the Patrician Magistrates. 

§ 6. Another concession made by the Patrician Lords was a 
small instalment of the Agrarian law. L. Icilius, Tribune of the 
Plebs, proposed that all the Aventine hill, being Public Land, 
should be made over to the Plebs, to be their quarter for ever, 
as the other hills were occupied by the Patricians and their 
Clients. This hill, it will be remembered, was consecrated to 
the goddess Diana (Jana),* and though included in the walls of 
Servius, was yet not within the sacred limits (pomoerium) of the 
patrician city. After some opposition, the Patricians suffered 
this Icilian law to pass, in hopes of soothing the anger of the 
Plebeians. The land was parcelled out into building-sites. But 
as there was not enough to give a separate plot to every plebeian 
householder that wished to live in the city, one allotment was 
assigned to several persons, who built a joint house in flats or 
stories, each of which was inhabited (as in Edinburgh and in most 
foreign towns) by a separate family .f 

§ 7. The three men who had been sent into Greece returned 
in the third year (452 B.C.). They found the city free from 
domestic strife, partly from the concessions already made, partly 
from expectation of what was now to follow, and partly from the 
effect of a pestilence which had broken out anew. 

§ 8. So far did moderate counsels now prevail among the Pa- 
tricians, that after some little delay they agreed to suspend the 
ordinary government by the Consuls and other officers, and in 

of Spurius Cassius. But it must have been after the year 441 b.c. ; for in 
that year the number of Tribunes first became ten. 

* Chapt. iii. § 27. 

f These houses, or blocks of houses, jomtly occupied by several families, 
were in Roman phrase called insuloR (the term isola is still so used), while the 
term domtis was restricted to the mansion occupied by a single wealthy family. 



Chap. X. DECEMYIRATE. 115 

their stead to appoint a Council of Ten, who were during their 
existence to be entrusted with all the functions of government. 
But they were to have a double duty : they were not only an ad- 
ministrative, but also a legislative council. On the one hand, they 
were to conduct the government, administer justice, and command 
the armies. On the other, they were to draw up a Code of Laws, 
by which equal justice was to be dealt out to the whole Roman 
People, to Patricians and Plebeians alike, and by Avhich especially 
the authority to be exercised by the Consuls, or chief magistrates, 
was to be clearly determined and settled. 

This supreme Council of Ten, or Decemvirs, was first appointed 
in the year 450 b.c. They were all Patricians. At their head 
stood Appius Claudius and T. Genucius, who had already been 
chosen Consuls for this memorable year. This Appius Claudius, 
the third of his name, was son and grandson of those two patri- 
cian chiefs who had opposed the leaders of the Plebeians so vehe- 
mently in the matter of the tribunate. But he affected a dif- 
ferent conduct from his sires. He was the most popular man 
of the whole council, and became in fact the sovereign of Rome. 
At first he used his great power well ; and the first year's 
government of the Decemvirs was famed for justice and mo-' 
deration. 

§ 9. They also applied themselves diligently to their great 
work of law-making ; and before the end of the year, had drawn 
up a Code of Ten Tables, which were posted in the Forum, that 
all citizens might examine them, and suggest amendments to 
the Decemvirs. After due time thus spent, the Ten Tables 
were confirmed and made law at the Comitia of the Centuries. 
By this Code equal justice was to be administered to both Orders 
without distinction of persons. 

§ 10. At the close of the year, the first Decemvirs laid down 
their ofiice, just as the Consuls and other ofiicers of state had 
been accustomed to do before. They were succeeded by a 
second set of ten, who for the next year at least were to 
conduct the government like their predecessors. The only 
one of the old Decemvirs re-elected was Appius Claudius. 
The Patricians, indeed, endeavoured to prevent even this, and 
to this end he was himself appointed to preside at the new elec- 
tions ; for it was held impossible for a chief magistrate to return 
his own name, when he was himself presiding. But Appius 
scorned precedents. He returned himself as elected, together 
with nine others, men of no name, while two of the great 
Quinctian Gens who off'ered themselves were rejected. 

Of the new Decemvirs, it is certain, that three,'* and it is pro- 
* Sp. Oppius, Q. Pcetelius, 0. Duillius. 



116 EOME UNDER THE PATEICIANS. BOOK IL 

bable that five, were Plebeians. Appius, with the plebeian 
Oppius, held the judicial office, and remained in the city ; and 
these two seem to have been regarded as the chiefs. The other 
six commanded the armies and discharged the duties previously 
assigned to the Quaestors and ^diles. 

§ 11. The first Decemvirs had earned the respect and esteem 
of their fellow-citizens. The new Council of Ten deserved the 
hatred which has ever since cloven to their name. Appius now 
threw off the mask which he had so long worn, and assumed his 
natural character — the same as had distinguished his sire and 
grandsire of unhappy memory. He became an absolute despot. 
His brethren in the council offered no hindrance to his will : 
even the plebeian decemvirs, bribed by power, fell into his way 
of action and supported his tyranny. They each had twelve 
lictors, who carried fasces with the axes in them, the symbol of 
absolute power, as in the times of the Kings ; so that it was said, 
Rome had now twelve Tarquins instead of oue, and 120 armed 
lictors instead of 12. All freedom of speech ceased. The Senate 
was seldom called together. The leading men, Patricians and 
Plebeians, left the city. The outward aspect of things was that 
of perfect calm and peace ; but an opportunity only was want- 
ing for the discontent which was smouldering in . all men's 
hearts to break out and show itself. 

§ 12. By the end of the year the Decemvirs had added two 
more Tables to the Code, so that there were now Twelve Tables. 
But these two last were of a most oppressive and arbitrary kind, 
devoted chiefly to restore the ancient privileges of the patrician 
caste. Of these Tables we will speak presently ; but here it should 
be observed that they were made laws not by the vote of the 
People, but by the simple edict of the Decemvirs. 

§ 13. It was, no doubt, expected that the second Decemvirs 
also would have held Comitia for the election of successors. But 
Appius and his colleagues showed no intention, and when the year 
came to a close they continued to hold office as if they had been 
re-elected. So firmly did their power seem to be established, that 
we hear not of any endeavour being made to induce them to 
resign. 

§ 14. In the course of this next year (449 e.g.), the border wars 
were renewed. On the north the Sabines, and the JEquians 
on the north-east, invaded the Roman country at the same time. 
The latter penetrated as far as Mount Algidus, as in 458 B.C., 
when they were routed by old Cincinnatus. The Decemvirs 
probably, like the Patrician Burgesses in former times, regarded 
these inroads not without satisfaction ; for they turned away the 
mind of the people from their sufferings at home. Yet from 



Chap. X. DECEMVIRATE. 117 

these very wars sprung the events which overturned their power 
and destroyed themselves. 

Two armies were levied, one to check the Sabines, the other 
to oppose the ^quians, and these were commanded by the six 
military Decemvirs. Appius and Oppius remained to administer 
affairs at home. But there was no spirit in the armies. Both 
were defeated ; and that which was opposed to the vEquians was 
compelled to take refuge within the walls of Tusculum, 

Then followed two events which were preserved in well-known 
legends, and which give the popular narrative of the manner in 
which the power of the Decemvirs was overthrown, 

§ 15. Legend of Siccius Dentatus. — In the army sent against 
the Sabines, Siccius Dentatus was known as the bravest man. 
He was then serving as a centurion; he had fought in 120 
battles ; he had slain eight champions in single combat ; had 
saved the lives of fourteen citizens ; had received forty wounds, 
all in front; had followed in nine triumphal processions; and 
had won crowns and decorations without number. This gallant 
veteran had taken an active part in the civil contests between 
the two orders, and was now suspected by the Decemvirs 
commanding the Sabine army, of plotting against them. Ac- 
cordingly, they determined to get rid of him ; and for this end 
they sent him out as if to reconnoitre, with a party of soldiers, 
who Avere secretly instructed to murder him. Having discovered 
their design, he set his back against a rock, and resolved to sell 
his life dear. More than one of his assailants fell, and the rest 
stood at bay around him, not venturing to come within sword's 
length ; when one wretch climbed up the rock behind and 
crushed the brave old man with a massive stone. But the man- 
ner of his death could not be hidden from the army ; and the 
generals only prevented an outbreak by honouring him with a 
magnificent funeral. 

Such was the state of things in the Sabine army. 

§ 16. Legend of Virginia. — The other army had a still grosser 
outrage to complain of. In this, also, there was a notable 
r^enturion, Virginius by name. His daughter Virginia, just ripen- 
ing into womanhood, beautiful as the day, was betrothed to L. 
Icilius, the Tribune who had carried the law for allotting the 
Aventine Hill to the Plebeians. Appius Claudius, the Decemvir, 
saw her and lusted to make her his own. And with this view, 
he ordered one of his clients, M. Claudius by name, to lay hands 
upon her as she was going to her school in the Forum, and to 
claim her as his slave. The man did so ; and when the cries of 
her nurse brought a crowd round them, M. Claudius ii^.sisted 
on taking her before the Decemvir, in order (as he said) to have 



lis ROME UNDER THE PATRICIAljTS. Book II. 

the case fairly tried. Her friends consented; and no sooner had 
Appius heard the matter, than he gave judgment that the 
maiden should be delivered up to the claimant, who should be 
bound to produce her in case her alleged father appeared to gain- 
say the claim. Now this judgment was directly against one of 
the laws of the Twelve Tables, which Appius himself had framed : 
for therein it was provided, that any person being at freedom 
should continue free, till it was proved that such person was a 
slave. Icilius, therefore, with Numitorius the uncle of the 
maiden, boldly argued against the legality of the judgment ; and 
at length Appius, fearing a tumult, agreed to leave the girl in 
their hands on condition of their giving bail to bring her before 
him next morning ; and then, if Virginius did not appear, he 
would at once (he said) give her up to her pretended master. 
To this Icilius consented ; but he delayed giving bail, pretending 
that he could not procure it readily ; and in the meantime he 
sent off a secret message to the camp on Algidus, to inform Vir- 
ginius of what had happened. As soon as the bail was given, 
Appius also sent a message to the Decemvirs in command of that 
army, ordering them to refuse leave of absence to Virginius. 
But when this last message arrived, Virginius was already half- 
way on his road to Rome ; for the distance was not more than 
twenty miles, and he had started at nightfall. 

Next morning early, Virginius entered the Forum leading his 
daughter by the hand, both clad in mean attire. A great num- 
ber of friends and matrons attended him ; and he went about 
among the people entreating them to support him against the 
tyranny of Appius. So when Appius came to take his place on 
the judgment seat, he found the Forum full of people, all friendly 
to Virginius and his cause. But he inherited the boldness as 
well as the vices of his sires, aid though he saw Virginius stand- 
ing there, ready to prove that he was the maiden's father, he at 
once gave judgment against his own law, that Virginia should 
be given up to M. Claudius, till it should be proved that 
she was free.* Tlie wretch came up to seize her, and the 
lictors kept the people from him. Virginius, now despairing of. 
deliverance, begged Appius to allow him to ask the maiden whe- 
ther she were indeed his daughter or no. " If," said he, " I 
find I am not her father, I shall bear her loss the lighter." Un- 
der this pretence he drew her aside to a spot upon the northern 
side of the Forum (afterwards called the Novae Tabern8e),f and 

* This was called vindicias in servitutem dare. Vindex was the legal term 
for claimant; vindicce was the claim to possession. The opposite judgment 
■ was vindicias in libertatem dare. The person who claimed another as slave or 
free was said asserere aliquem in servitutem, or in libertatem. 

f See Chap. iii. § 11. 



Chap. S. PALL OF DECEMYIRATE. 119 

here, snatching up a knife from a butcher's stall, he cried : " In 
this Avay only can I keep thee free ;" — and so saying, stabbed her 
to the heart. Then he turned to the tribunal and said : " On 
thee, Appius, and on thy head be this blood." Appius cried out 
to seize " the murderer :" but the crowd made way for Virginius, 
and he passed through them holding up the bloody knife, and 
Avent out at the gate and made straight for the army. There, 
when the soldiers had heard his tale, they at once abandoned 
their decemviral generals, and marched to Rome. They were 
soon followed by the other army from the Sabine frontier ; for 
to them Icilius had gone, and Numitorius ; and they found willing 
ears among men who were already enraged by the murder of old 
Siccius Dentatus. So the two armies joined their banners, elected 
new generals, and encamped upon the Aventine Hill, the quarter 
of the Plebeians. 

Meantime, the people at home had risen against Appius ; and, 
after driving him from the Forum, they joined their armed fellow 
citizens upon the Aventine. There the whole body of the com- 
mons, armed and unarmed, hung like a dark cloud ready to burst 
upon the city. 

§ 17. Whatever may be the truth of the legends of Siccius and 
Virginia, there can be no doubt that the conduct of the Decem- 
virs had brought matters to the verge of civil war. At this 
juncture the Senate met ; and the moderate party so far prevailed 
as to send their own leaders, M. Horatius Barbatus and L. Valerius 
Potitus, to negotiate with the insurgents. The Plebeians were 
ready to listen to the voices of these men ; for they remembered 
that the Consuls of the first year of the Republic, when the Patri- 
cian Burgesses were friends to the Plebeians, were named Va- 
lerius and Horatius ; and so they appointed M. Duillius, a former 
Tribune to be their spokesman. But no good came of it. And 
Duillius persuaded the Plebeians to leave the city, and once more 
to occupy the Sacred Mount. 

Then remembrances of the great Secession came back upon 
the minds of the Patricians ; and the Senate observing the calm 
and resolute bearing of the plebeian leaders, compelled the Decem- 
virs to resign, and sent back Valerius and Horatius to negotiate 
anew. 

§ 18. The leaders of the Plebeians demanded : — 1st, That the 
Tribuneship should be restored, and the Comitia Tributa recog- 
nised. 2ndly, That a right of appeal to the People against the 
power of the supreme magistrate should be secured. Srdly, That 
full indemnity should be granted to the movers and promoters 
of the late Secession. 4thly, That the Decemvirs should be 
burnt alive. 



120 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. BOOK 11. 

Of these demands tlie deputies of tlie Senate agreed to the 
three first; but the fourth, they said, was unworthy of a free 
people ; it was a piece of tyranny, as bad as any of the worst 
acts of the late government ; and it was needless, because any 
one who had reason of complaint against the late Decemvirs 
might proceed against them according to law. The Plebeians 
listened to these words of wisdom, and withdrew their savage 
demand. The other three were confirmed by the Fathers, and the 
Plebeians returned to their quarters on the Aventine, Here they 
held an Assembly according to their Tribes, in which the Pontifex 
Maximus presided ;* and they now for the first time elected Ten 
Tribunes — first Virginius, Numitorius, and leilius, then Duillius 
and six others : so full were their minds of the wrong done to the 
daughter of Virginius; so entirely was it the blood of young 
Virginia that overthrew the Decemvirs, even as that of Lucretia 
had driven out the Tarquins. 

§ 19. The Plebeians had now returned to the city, headed by 
their ten Tribunes, a number which was never again altered so 
long as the tribunate continued in existence. It remained for 
the Patricians to redeem the pledges given by their agents 
Valerius and Horatius, on the other demands of the plebeian 
leaders. 

The first thing to settle was the election of the supreme magis- 
trates. The Decemvirs had fallen, and the state was without any 
executive government. 

It has been supposed, as we have above said, that the govern- 
ment of the Decemvirs was intended to be perpetual. The 
patricians gave up their Consuls, and the Plebeians their 
Tribunes, on condition that each order was to be admitted to an 
equal share in the new decemviral college. But the Tribunes 
were now restored in augmented number, and it was but natural 
that the Patricians should insist on again occupying all places in 
the supreine magistracy. By common consent, as it would seem, 
the Comitia of the Centuries met, and elected to the consulate 
the two Patricians who had shown themselves the friends of both 
Orders — L. Valerius Potitus, and M. Horatius Barbatus. 

Properly speaking, these were the first Consuls, though (in 
accordance with common custom) this name has been used to 
designate the supreme magistrates from the beginning of the 
Eepublic. But we are told by the Roman historians that before 
the year 449 b.c. these ofiicers were known by the name of 

* Usually the Tribunes themselves conducted the business of the Comitia 
Tributa. But at present there were no Tribunes. The presence of the Chief 
Pontiff, although a Patrician, would give a peculiar force to the restoration of 
the leges sacraicB of the tribunate. 



Chap. X. FALL OP DECEMVIR ATE. 121 

Pr.etors.* Strictly, therefore, Valerius and Horatius were tlie 
first Consuls. 

§ 20, As soon as they were installed in office tliey proceeded 
to redeem the pledges tlaey had given to the Plebeian leaders by 
bringing forward certain popular laws, which from them are com- 
monly called the Valerio-Horatian Laws. 

(1.) First, they solemnly renewed the old law of Valerius Pop- 
licola, by which it was provided that every Eoman citizen should 
have an Appeal to the People against the power of the supreme 
magistrate. This had been sanctioned by the Ten Tables of the 
Decemvirs, and some remarks on the nature of the right will be 
found in the next chapter. It must here be noticed that probably 
the "People" designated in the old law of Poplicola was the 
Assembly of Patrician Burgesses, whereas now it meant the 
general Assembly of the Centuries. 

To the law as proposed by the Consuls, the Tribune Duillius 
added the terrible penalty already inflicted on nine Tribunes, and 
threatened to the Decemvirs that " whoso transgressed it should 
be burnt alive,"f 

(2,) Secondly, it was enacted that the Assembly of the Tribes 
should receive legislative power, and their measures should, like 
the laws passed at the Centuriate Comitia, have authority over 
the whole body of citizens — Patricians and Plebeians, Hitherto 
the Plehi-scita, or resolutions of the Plebs, had been made merely 
for regulating their own affairs, and had not the force of law. 
Henceforth they became laws binding on all the Body PoliticJ 
We shall have occasion to return to this subject hereafter. At 
present it will be enough to note that, as will appear from our 
review of the laws of the Twelve Tables, the Decemvirs had 
included in the plebeian or local Tribes the Patricians and their 
Clients ; so that the claim of the Comitia Tributa to obtain legis- 
lative authority was no exclusive privilege conferred on the 
Plebeians, 

§ 21. The second of these laws soon showed itself in operation. 
It will be remembered that two armies had been sent by the 
Decemvirs to meet the Sabines and the ^quians in the field. 
When these armies marched to Rome to take vengeance upon 

* See Liv. iii. 54. They were called Pr^tors in the Laws of the XII. Tables 
(Plin., Hist Nat. xviii. 3). The derivation of consul and consulere is evidently 
the same, namely the preposition cum or con, implying joint deliberation and 
common action. Niebuhr compares it to proesul from proi, exul from ex. 

\ Zuvrac KaTaaavdyva i, Diodor. xii. 25. Livy (iii. 55) says that the of- 
-enders were "to be scourged and beheaded." But the practice of burning 
seems at that time to have been the last penalty. 

X The terms of the enactment, as given by Livy, are:— "Ut quod tributim 
plehes jussisset, populum teneret." 

6 



122 KOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. 

Appius and his colleagues, the enemy was left to pursue their 
ravages unchecked, except by the Latins and Hernicans. The 
new Consuls now held a levy. Names were willingly given in, 
and they were soon ready to take the field at the head of men 
devoted to them for their good services. Victories were gained ; 
but when Valerius and Horatius returned at the head of their 
troops, and halted in the Campus Martins (according to custom), 
that they might enter the city in triumphal procession, the Senate 
refused them this honour. Upon this, L. Icilius, Tribune of the 
Plebs, obtained a vote from the people assembled in their Tribes, 
by which it was ordained that the friends of the Plebs should 
enjoy. their triumph in despite of the senatorial ill-will; and the 
Senate saw themselves compelled to give way. 

§ 22. Meanwhile the Decemvirs had been left personally unmo- 
lested ; but Virginius, now a Tribune, singled out Appius as the 
chief offender, and impeached him. The proud Patrician scorned 
submission, and descended into the Forum, surrounded by a 
crowd of young men of his own order. Virginius ordered him 
to be arrested, and refused to hold him to bail unless he could 
prove " that he had not assigned Virginia into bondage till she 
was proved free." This was impossible, and he was thrown into 
prison to await his trial before the assembled people. But to such 
degradation he could not stoop; and, like his father, he put an 
end to his own life in prison. 

Then Sp. Oppius, the chief among the Plebeian Decemvirs, the 
friend and imitator of Appius the Patrician, was accused by 
Numitorius and executed. The goods of both were confiscated 
to the state (publicata sunt). But Avhen some of the plebeian 
leaders would have gone on to impeach the other Decemvirs, 
then M. Duillius, the Tribune, came forward, and by his power of 
veto stayed all further proceedings. " Enough had been done," 
he said, "to vindicate justice and uphold freedom. Further pun- 
ishments would bear the semblance of revenge, and make it 
still more difficult to reconcile the two orders." Happy is the 
people which has leaders who in the heat and tumult of triumph 
can gain even greater honours by moderation, than by the firm- 
ness displayed in the conduct of the struggle ! 

§ 23. In all these proceedings no security had yet been taken 
for the election of Consuls more favourable to plebeian claims. 
The late refusal of the Senate to authorise the triumph of Vale- 
rius and Horatius, and the zeal of the young Patricians to obtain 
the acquittal of Appius, were not encouraging signs for future 
peace. The more ardent of the plebeian leaders, therefore, pro- 
^ posed that the Consuls and Tribunes now in office should be con- 
tinued without re-election for the succeeding year. But, with 



Chap. X. 



FALL OF DECEMVIRATE. 



123 



the moderation that had marked all their proceedings, the Consuls 
declined this honour for themselves ; and Duillius the Tribune, on 
his part, declared that he could not receive any votes tendered for 
reappointing himself or any of his present colleagues. But many 
of the Plebeians persisted in voting in this sense : and in conse- 
quence only five of the new candidates obtained votes sufiicient for 
their election. These five then chose other five to complete the 
College of Ten. 

Thus closed the remarkable year in which the Decemvirs were 
overthrown, and a new beginning of independence made for the 
commonalty of Rome. But before we continue our narrative, it 
will be proper to add a chapter on the famous code of laws left 
behind by the Decemvirs ; for though they were passed away, 
and their government was forgotten, their laws endured for many 
ages. 

* This was called coopiaiio: see Chapt. xxiv. § 3. One of the Tribunes now 
elected, L. Trebonius, introduced a law by which it was enacted that hereafter 
the election of the Tribunes should be kept open till all ten received the due 
number of votes. 




Coin of p. Porcius Lsioa, author of the Law of Appeal. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE CODE OF THE TWELVE TABLES. 

§ 1. Few remains of the XII Tables. § 2. Difference of character in the first 
X and last II Tables. § 3. Political ordinances of the X Tables. § 4. Laws 
for protection of Person and Property. § 5. Iniquitous provisions of the IL 
Tables. § 6, Advantages resulting from the Code to the Plebeians. 

§ 1. The Twelve Tables were considered as the foundation of all 
law,* and Cicero always mentions them with the utmost reverence. 
But only fragments remain, and those who have bestowed the 
greatest labour in examining these can give but an imperfect ac- 
count of their original form and contents. 

§ 2. It is probable that the purpose of Terentilius and his fol- 
lowers, in urging the framing of a Code of laws, was to establish 
an equality of rights for both orders — Patricians and Plebeians, 
Lords and Commons. Now it will be seen in the following short 
statement that some laws had a contrary effect, and tended to 
widen the breach. These unequal laws were believed by the an- 
cients to belong to the Two last Tables, which were enacted by 
the second Decemvirs, and which were unduly favourable to the 
extreme patrician party, while the Ten Tables of the first Decem- 
virs were just and equal for all.f 

§ 3. We will first review the political ordinances of these Ten 
Tables, by which the first Decemvirs sought to establish equality 
between the Orders. 

(1.) It has been already stated that they divided the supreme 
authority. All the old offices were, for the time at least, abro- 
gated ; and the state was to be governed by a Council of ten, con- 
sisting of five Patricians and five Plebeians. This reasonable rule 
fell to the ground when the Decemvirate was abolished ; and hence 
the contentions between the Orders were renewed (as we shall see) 
with great virulence. 

(2.) The Patricians and their Clients were now probably first 
included in the Plebeian Tribes ; and when we speak of Clients, 
we must now comprehend also the Freedmen (libertini),\ who 

* Livy (iii. 34) calls them "fons omnis public! privatique juris." 

f Cicero de Republica, ii. 3*7. So Appius boasts at the close of the first 

decemvirate — "se . . omnia jura summis infimisque sequasse." Liv. iii. 34. 
X They were called libertini absolutely, but liberti m reference to their 

patron. Thus Tiro was Cicero's libertus, but when spoken of simply he was a 

libertinus. 



Chap. XL CODE OP THE TWELVE TABLES. 125 

were a largo and increasing class.* Further, tlie three old Patri- 
cian Tribes now, or before this, became obsolete ; and henceforth 
a Patrician was known not as a Ramnian, a Titian, or a Lucerian, 
but as a Burgess of the PoUian, Papirian, or some other local 
Tribe. The term Populus Romanus, which (as before remarked) 
had been applicable in some measure to the united body of Patri- 
cians and Plebeians since the time when both Orders were com- 
prehended in the Comitia of the Centuries, was now more properly 
and strictly so used, — though the time of their perfect union was 
yet to come. 

(3.) In consequence of this ordinance a great alteration followed 
both in the Comitia Centuriata and in the Comitia Tributa ; but 
as these alterations were rather future consequences of the last- 
mentioned ordinance, than a distinct ordinance of the Decemvirs, 
it will be more -convenient to notice them hereafter.f 

§ 4. We will now notice a few provisions of those laws, which were 
intended to protect the person and property of private citizens. 

(1.) It was enacted that any person claimed as a Slave should 
be left at freedom till such time as the alleged master proved his 
claim good. This was the law violated by Appius in the case of 
Virginia. 

(2.) The power of a Father over his Children was made less 
absolute. By the old law the son was as much at the mercy of 
his father (in potestate patris) as a slave. Henceforth by three 
sales, real or fictitious, the son might acquire independence or be- 
come sui juris. 

(3.) The law of Debt was left in its former state of severity, J 
But the condition of borrowing money was made easier ; for it 
was made illegal to exact higher interest than ten per cent. For 
that this is the meaning of foenus unciarium has been clearly 
proved by Niebuhr. Uncia (derived from unus) is one of the 
tioelve units into which the as was divided, each being one-twelfth 
part of the whole. Now J^- of the capital is 8i per cent. ; but as 
the old Roman year was only ten months, we must add two 
months' interest at the same rate ; and this amounts to ten per 
cent, for the year of twelve months. 

(4.) No Private Law or privilegium — that is a law to impose 
any penalty or disability on a single citizen, similar in character 
to our bills of attainder — was to be made.|| 

* All slaves who became free remained attached to their former master as 
his freedmen, and he was now called not their master (dominus), but their pa- 
tron (patronus), the very same term which was used in respect to his clients. It 
is indeed probable that the increase in the number of slaves and freedmen was 
among the causes of the gradual decay of the relation of patrons and chents. 

f See Chapt. xxxv. § 11 sqq. % See above, Chapt. vii. § T. 

I Cicero pro Sestio 30, pro Domo 17. 



126 EOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. BOOK II. 

(5.) There was to be an Appeal to the People from the sentence 
of every magistrate ; and no citizen was to be tried for his life 
except before the Comitia of the Centuries. 

It is remarkable how constantly laws of this kind were renewed, 
from the time of the first law of appeal passed by Valerius Pop- 
licola in the first year of the Republic. The right of Appeal 
was one of the demands made by Duillius on behalf of the Ple- 
beians at the fall of the Decemvirs ; and one of the first acts of 
the new Consuls was to provide that there should be such appeal. 
All these laws were finally absorbed in that of Porcius La3ca, 
passed nearly two centuries after (b.c. 256). This was the famous 
Porcian law " de capite et tergo civium," by which it was enacted 
that no Roman citizen should be put to d^ath or scourged without 
trial before the Centuries.* These laws may be compared to our 
Act of Habeas Corpus, which provides that no man shall be im- 
prisoned by the sovereign or his oflicers without having his person 
produced in open court and allowed a fair trial. And as in turbu- 
lent times this Act is sometimes suspended by the proclamation 
of military law, so at Rome the laws of appeal might be suspended. 
This was done in the earlier times by the appointment of a Dic- 
tator, and afterwards by a resolution of the Senate, " that the 
Consuls should see that the commonwealth suffered no injury ."f 
By such a resolution the Consuls were invested with dictatorial 
power ; they possessed the imperium within the walls of the city, 
and might put any dangerous citizen to death. Thus it was that 
the Senate proceeded against the Gracchi, and against the Catili- 
narian conspirators. 

(6,) With regard to the laws of inheritance and contracts, they 
are of too intricate and technical a nature to be satisfactorily 
treated in a work like this. The decemviral laws on this head 
generally made the conveyance of property easier and more cer- 
tain, favoured the power of leaving property by will, and endeav- 
oured to secure the fulfilment of contracts. These laws are well 
worth careful study, for they are the foundation of the great Code of 
laws known in later times by the name of the Roman or Civil Law, 
which still prevails in Italy, Germany, and other parts of Europe. 

§ 5. On the whole, therefore, it is clear that the legislation of 
the first decemviral council was honest and fair, and really tended 
to introduce equal rights both in law and government for the 
whole nation. 

But there are some laws which had a directly contrary eff"ect, 

* This was the law by which St. Paul " appealed to Caesar" — for the Em- 
peror then represented the Roman People. The phrases varied: — Provoco ad 
Populum, Appello Ccesarem. See the Coin at the end of the last Chapter. 

\ " Videant consules, ne quid detriment! capiat Respublica." 



Chap. XL CODE OP THE TWELVE TABLES. 12*7 

and tliese (as lias been said) are, by tlie ancients, attributed to tlie 
Two last Tables of tlie Code. 

(1.) The old law or custom probibiting all Intermarriage (con- 
nubium) between the two Orders was now formally confirmed, and 
thus a positive bar Avas put to wbat is conjectured to have been 
the primary aim of Terentilius and the Tribunes, namely to procure 
an equalisation of the two Orders. No such consummation could 
be looked for, when the Code of national law proclaimed them to 
be of diftereut races, unfit to mingle one with the other. 

It is impossible to conceive any enactment that could more 
tend to dissever the two Orders, and produce greater bitterness 
of feeling between them. At the time of passing it the law was 
thought to be injurious chiefly to the Plebeians ; and to their feel- 
ings and their pride it was injurious. But the class to whom it 
was really most injurious was the Patrician ; for if they had been 
compelled to intermarry among themselves they would soon have 
dwindled into a very small number of families, as has been proved 
by experience in many cases.* It is probable that the wiser and 
more moderate of the Patricians knew this, and therefore it was 
that this law was repealed shortly after, without much opposition, 
by the Tribune Canuleius. 

(2.) To this may be added the celebrated law by which any 
one who wrote lampoons or libels on his neighbours was liable to 
be deprived of civil rights (diminutio capitis). By this law the 
poet Nasvius Avas punished, Avhen he assailed the great family of 
the Metelli.f 

(3.) We may also mention that no attempt was made to divide 
the Public Land more equitably. Hence we shall find that Agra- 
rian Laws remained a ready instrument in the hands of all ene- 
mies of the Patricians and Avealthy Plebeians, whether true patriots 
or brawling demagogues. 

§ 6. But, notwithstanding these unequal laws, there can be no 
doubt that by the Code of the Twelve Tables the Plebeians gained 
a considerable step towards the adjustment of their differences with 
the Patrician Lords. It was nearly eighty years before these dif- 
ferences were completely settled, when the Licinian Laws again 
admitted the Plebeians to the supreme ofiices of the state. 

* Niebulir quotes the case of the baronial famiUes of Bremen, who by such 
restricted marriages were in fifty years diminished by one-third. By the Act 
of Union with Scotland it was forlDidden to create any more Scottish peerages. 
At the Union 154 Peers were on the Roll. In 1812 71 of this list had disap- 
peared. A few of these were forfeited, and some dormant ; but far the greater 
number were extinct, — and this, though there was no law prohibiting mar- 
riage with commoners. 

f Chapt. xxxvii. § 14. 



CHAPTER XII. 

SEQUEL OF THE DECBMVIRATE. MILITARY TRIBUNATE. GENERAL 
HISTORY TO THE "WAR "WITH VEIL (448 406 B.C.) 

§ 1. Many Patricians go over to the Plebeians. § 2. Canuleian Law for 
legalising Intermarriage of Orders. § 3. Proposition to throw open Con- 
sulship to Plebeians : compromise by appointment of Mihtary Tribunes. 
§ 4. Nugatory nature of concession. Creation of Censorship. § 5. Survey 
of whole time of Military Tribunate: three periods. § 6. Eeasons for 
Plebeians demanding so httle. § V. Quaestors increased from two to four: 
admission of Plebeians to Qussstorship. § 8. Probably at same time to 
Senate. § 9. Summary. § 10. Popularity of Sp. Meelius, a knight: 
struck dead by 0. ServDius Ahala. § 11. Stories of two Postumii : their 
severity. 

§ 1. In tlie first joy wliicli followed the fall of the Decemvirs, 
there seems to have been a great disposition in the moderate men 
of both sides to confide in the good intentions of the opposite 
party. This appeared fully in the conduct of the Consuls and of 
Duillius, the most influential of the Tribunes. But the greater 
part of the Patricians, especially the young men, in whom the 
pride of blood was hottest, seem only to have made concessions in 
the hope of recalling them on the first opportunity. It could not 
be concealed that the Tribunes and the Comitia Tributa had re- 
ceived a great accession of power ; and it was, apparently, for the 
sake of wielding this power in their own interest that at this time 
we hear of Senators off"ering themselves for the Tribunate, and of 
Patricians laying aside the dignity of their birth, and obtaining 
adoption into Plebeian families ; nay, at this time, we read that 
Patricians, or those who had been Patricians, were chosen into the 
college of the Tribunes.* 

§ 2. But the greatest omission in the arrangement efi'ected 
by the Consuls and Tribunes of the year 449 b.c. was, that 
they had not insisted on the repeal of the invidious law, ratified 

* Livy (iii. 65) distinctly states that of the five Tribunes chosen by their 
colleagues, in default of due election (see Chapt. x. § 23), two were Patricians, 
and that a similar attempt was made at a later period (v. 10). If this was 
done without the Patricians having been previously made Plebeians, it must 
be set down to the disorder of the times ; for to the latest period, after all 
other political distinctions had ceased, a man of Patrician blood could not be- 
come a Tribune without having been adopted as a Plebeian. The fact that at 
this time " many Patricians renounced their birth to become Tribunes" ia 
stated by Zonaras (the Bpitomator of Dio Cassius), vii. 15. 



Chap. XII. CANULBIAN LAW. 129 

lately by the Twelve Tables, by wliicli tlie Intermarriage of the 
Orders was probibited. Attention was perhaps called to tliis by the 
sight of Patricians seeking the Tribunate ; and in the fourth year 
alter the deposition of the Decemvirs, an enterprising college of 
Tribunes made it fully understood that the claims of the Plebeians 
were yet unsatisfied. Nothing short of social and political equality 
would allay the contests which had been raging, and were sure to 
rage again, till the wall of severance raised up by oligarchical pride 
were broken down. 

With these views, C. Canuleius, one of the Tribunes of the year 
445 B.C., gave notice of a bill which should make the marriage of 
the two Orders legitimate. And at the same time his nine col- 
leagues spoke of bringing forward a measure which should throw 
open the Consulship to Patricians and Plebeians alike. 

Scenes of great violence followed the introduction of these bills, 
as before, when Terentilius Harsa was striving for his law. We 
are not informed of the particulars ; but at length the Tribunes, 
despairing of success, again led the Plebeians out of the city, and 
in this third Secession they occupied the Janiculum.* If, they 
said, the Patricians deemed their fellow citizens unworthy to 
marry with them, if their blood would not mingle, if they were 
different races of men, — it were better that they separate. Here, 
however, as before, the Secession gave strength to the moderate 
party, and it was agreed by the Patricians to allow the Canuleian 
law to pass without further opposition. This was in itself a revo- 
lution. It destroyed the existence of the Patricians as a caste. It 
was now conceded that the two Orders were equal in blood, and 
that children born of a mixed marriage were in law entitled to the 
same rank and privileges as those of pure patrician descent.f This 
change, more than any other, promoted that complete amalgama- 
tion of the two Orders, which followed so rapidly in the next 
seventy or eighty years. 

§ 3. The Canuleian bill had become law. The proposal of the 
nine Tribunes to open the Consulship remained. Against this, the 
Patrician Burgesses made a firmer stand. They had yielded the 
most dearly prized of their social privileges ; they resolved to 
maintain their political powers untouched. The Consuls, they 
argued, had sacred duties to perform ; it was their business to 
call together the Centuriate Assembly and preside over it, for 

* " Tertiam seditionem incitavit matrimonioruni dignitas, ut plebeii cum 
patrieiis jungerentur : qui tumultus in monte Janiculo duce Canulcio Trib. 
Pleb. exarsit." — Plorus, i. 25. This secession is not mentioned by Livy or 
Dionysius. 

f See the eloquent speech which Livy puts into the mouth of Canuleius, 
iii. 3-5. It anticipates the pregnant argument of Shylock : " Hath not a Jew 
eyes? . . . fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons," &c. 

6* 



130 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. 

none could take the auspices and perform the sacred duties asso- 
ciated with this business except those in whose veins ran pure 
patrician blood. Thus was again raised the very question which 
ought to have been set to rest for ever by the Canuleian law. 
The different nature, as it were, of Patricians and Plebeians was 
still made a reason for excluding the latter from the highest offices 
of state. 

After much altercation and long delays, a compromise was agreed 
to, as in the case of the Terentilian law. Till a satisfactory ar- 
rangement could be made with respect to the Consulship the chief 
executive power was committed to officers who bore the name of 
Military Tribunes, or Tribunes with Consular authority.* They 
were to be elected, like the Consuls, by the Centuries, and Plebe- 
ians, as well as Patricians, were to be eligible. 

§ 4. It seems, at first sight, as if by this concession the Patrici- 
ans had given up more than was demanded by the nine Tribunes, 
They asked for one of the Consulships ; all the places in the Mili- 
tary Tribunate were opened to them. However, on examination, 
it turns out that these apparent concessions were more than bal- 
^anced by other portions of the arrangement. 

(1.) The Patricians felt quite sure, by their influence in the 
Comitia of the Centuries, that they should secure most of the 
places in the new tribunitian college. But if this seemed unlikely, 
the Senate had the power of suspending the new magistracy and 
ordering an election of Consuls for any given year. 

(2.) The office of Prefect of the City seems to have been called 
into greater prominency now than before. In the absence of the 
Kings or Consuls it had been usual to invest one of the lead- 
ing Senators with this high ofiice. But now it seems to have be- 
come almost permanent. His business was to preside in the Senate 
and in the courts of justice, and to execute all those high execut- 
ive functions which were associated with regal and consular 
dignity. 

(3.) In the very year after the establishment of Military Tri- 
bunes, two new officers of state, called Censors, were appointed. 
These were both Patricians. Their business was to hold the Cen- 
sus, and perform the solemn rites with which every lustrum, or 
period of five years, was initiated ; and their office was to last for 
the whole of this period. In later times the Censors obtained a 
very great and commanding power, and became the chief and 
crowning dignity which a Roman burgess could reach. But it 
cannot be doubted that the cause of their creation was to take out 
of the hands of the Military Tribunes some of the most important 

* Their proper title was ■ iribuni militares consulari potesiate, or consulari 
imperio. 



Chap. XII. MILITARY TRIBUNATE. 131 

functions attacliing to the office of Consul. It is nowhere said 
that the Military Tribunes could not take the auspices. But it is 
said that none of them ever enjoyed a triumph ; the Patrician 
Tribunes Avould not claim this honour, lest it should also be 
granted to their Plebeian Colleagues. Probably the auspices were 
always taken by the Censors, or (when there were no Censors) by 
the Prefect of the City. 

It is evident, therefore, that the concessions made in the compro- 
mise of the year 444 B.C. were rather apparent than real. Even 
if the Plebeians had succeeded in filling all the places in the Mili- 
tary Tribunate, which was not to be expected, yet the Prefect of 
the City and the Censors were there to maintain the claim of the 
Patricians to exclusive management of the Comitia Centuriata, 
with its sacred attributes, the framing of the list of citizens, the 
assessment for taxation and military service. 

§ 5. We must now anticipate matters a little, to see how this sys- 
tem worked in practice. 

The time during which the Military Tribunate lasted may be 
divided into three periods: (1), eighteen years (444 — 42Y B.C.), in 
which Military Tribunes, three in number, were elected only five 
times, and Consuls in the remaining years ; (2), twenty-one years 
(426 — 406 B.C.), in which we count fourteen colleges of Military 
Tribunes, consisting of four in each year, except twice, when the 
number of three recurs;* (3) thirty-nine years (405 — 367 B.C.) in 
which Consuls are found only twice, while the annual number of 
Military Tribunes amounts to six, except in three years,f when 
they are eight. 

It appears, then, that in the first period the Military Tribunes 
formed an exception to the rule. Out of seventeen annual magis- 
tracies, there were at least twelve sets of Consuls ; and even in 
the five years when there were three Military Tribunes there were 
Censors by their side. 

But in the year 434 b.c. L. ^milius Mamercus, himself a Patri- 
cian, and a man of highest distinction,^ introduced a change. He 
was in that year invested with the office of Dictator, for the 
purpose of conducting the war in Lower Etruria, of which we shall 
speak in the next chapter. His services, however, were not re- 
quired in the field ; but he brought in a law by which the Censors 
were allowed eighteen months for the purpose of executing their 
business, and then were required to lay down their office ; so that 
if Censors were elected for each lustrum, there would be three 
years and a half in each of these quinquennial periods during 
which there were no Censors. We know not what were the 

* Namely, the years 418, 408, B.C. f Namely, 403, 380, 319, B.C. 

1^ He was three times Dictator. 



132 EOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. 

motives of ^milius in this transaction. So angry Avere the Patri- 
cians, that the next Censors disgraced this eminent man by depriv- 
ing him of his political rights as a Burgess of Rome. It is shortly 
after this law took effect that we first hear of four Military Tri- 
bunes ; and the conjecture of Niebuhr is now commonly accepted, 
namely, that the fourth Tribune was the Prgefectus Urbis, and 
therefore necessarily a Patrician.* 

The third period begins with the siege of Veii. From this time 
the Military Tribunate becomes the rule, and the Consulship the 
exception. The number now appears fixed at six : for the three 
years in which eight are counted, it is probable that the two addi- 
tional names were those of the Censors.f One of them was no 
doubt always the Prefect of the City, and he was supreme. 

It may be observed tliat it was not till the year 400 e.g. that 
even a single Plebeian obtained a place in the college. After this, 
however, the inferior order commonly obtained their due share of 
places, and in one year they even formed a majority. 

§ 6. It may be matter of surprise that the Plebeians were 
content with so little. No doubt, the first thing they looked to 
was their own personal well-being ; as yet they cared little for 
political rights. All their movements had rather tended to secu- 
rity of life and property than to possession of power. They 
sought for Tribunes of the Plebs, to protect the poor debtors from 
the oppression of rich creditors. They demanded an equal Code 
of laws, that they might have known rights, not dependent on the 
will of patrician courts of law. They claimed the right of Appeal 
from the judgment of the supreme magistrate ; that their per- 
sons might be secure from the arbitrary power of patrician 
praetors. The only exception is the second Valerian Law, by 
which the Assembly of the Tribes obtained the power of making 
laws. But for some time to come even these laws had to do 
only with questions of life and property ; the Plebeians did not 
yet interfere with political matters, such as peace and war. 
Just so, the Commons of England, from their first assembly in 
Parliament to the time of James I., confined themselves to laws 
affecting their own personal interests, and to voting money for 
the purposes of government : and when they attempted to go 
further in Elizabeth's time, they Avere sternly rebuked by that 

* 418 B.C., when there were only three Tribunes, was a censorial year, and 
therefore a patrician prefect was not required. 408 B.C., when there were also 
but three, remains a problem. 

f This is certainly the case in 403 B.C., where Livy (v. 1) and Plutarch 
{Vit. CamiU. 2) reckon the Censors Camillus and Postumius among the eight 
Military Tribunes. In the years 380, 3*79 B.C., Diodorus alone names eight 
Tribunes. The Censors of these years, however, are not named among these 
eight. 



Chap. XII. QU^STORES CLASSIOL 133 

imperious sovereign for presuming to "meddle with matters of 
state." 

§ 7. We may assume that the period hetween the Canuleian 
Law and the siege of Veii, when the MiHtary Tribunate seems 
first to have been regularly established, was a period of pro- 
visional government, during which all public relations were ex- 
tremely unsettled. The few events that are preserved by the 
annalists fully indicate this state of things. Throughout the 
two first periods of the Military Tribunate, the Patrician Bur- 
gesses are evidently struggling hard to maintain their political 
supremacy. At first Consulships are general ; the very first 
election to the Military Tribunate was set aside by the augurs, 
and the same thing happens more than once : but at length 
consular years become rare, and after the beginning of the siege 
of Veii almost disappear. In the year 421 b.c. the Plebeians 
were admitted to another ofiice of state hitherto confined to the 
Patricians, namely, the Qusestorship. The Qusestors now spoken 
of are the Qu^stoees Classici, so called because they were ori- 
ginally named by King Servius as paymasters of the Classes, or 
great military bodies, into which he divided all the people : and 
they must be distinguished from the Qusestores Parricidii, or 
Perduellionis.* As time went on, the duties of the Qusestores 
Classici, now called simply Quaestors, multiplied ; and it was 
thought necessary to appoint four instead of two. On this, the 
Tribunes of the Plebs demanded, that two of the four should 
be Plebeians, and after some little opposition this was conceded. 
Some time after, the number of the Quaestors was again doubled ; 
and in later times they became indefinite in number, since every 
general and every governor of a province had a Quaestor attached 
to his staff. 

§ 8. Now it was the custom (as we know in after-times) to fill 
up vacancies in the Senate from those who had served as Quaes- 
tors ; and probably it was so from the beginning. When, there- 
fore, there were eight Quaestors, the Censors at the commencement 
of each lustrum would find forty men, out of whom new Senators 
were to be chosen ; and as these forty had all been elected 
Quaestors by the People in their Centuries, it is plain that the 
Senate was indirectly chosen by the People. This regulation, 
whenever introduced, diminished very much the arbitrary power 
of the Censors in choosing new Senators. Moreover, it gave 
the Plebeians admission into the Senate — a most important pri- 
vilege, which was granted we know not exactly when, but 
probably from their first admission to the Quaestorship. For we 
find P. Licinius Calvus spoken of as " an old senator," just 
* Chapt. ii. § 2. 



134 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. BOOK II. 

at the close of the Veientine Avar (iu 390 b.c.),* and lie was a 
Plebeian. Now, as the Plebeians were admitted to the Quaestor- 
ship in 421 B.C. (about 20 years before), it may reasonably be 
supposed that this P. Licinius was one of the first plebeian 
Quaestors, and that he with other Plebeians was placed by the 
next Censors on the roll of the Senate. 

§ 9. Therefore we see the Plebeians admitted to the Military 
Tribuneship, by law in 444 B.C., and actually in 400 ; to the 
Quaestorship in 421, and to the Senate probably at the same time. 
The political disunion of the Orders was fast disappearing, and but 
for the Gallic invasion, which interrupted all peaceful reforms, 
would have ended sooner than was actually the fact. 

§ 10. Yet there remained many signs of discord and discontent, 
though of less violence than in the time of Terentilius. Of these 
the subjoined narratives will afford sufficient evidence. 

The year 440 b.c. was the beginning of several seasons of 
dearth and scarcity. To relieve the distress of the poor, a new 
oflice, called the Mastership of the Market (Praefectura Annonae), 
was created ; and the Patrician L. Minucius was the first who 
held this office. But the poorer sort among the Plebeians, im- 
patient with hunger, complained that his measures were slow 
and ineftectual; and their discontent was still further increased 
by the suspicious liberality of Sp. Maelius, a wealthy Plebeian 
Knight. This man employed his money in buying up corn, 
which he distributed for little or nothing among the poorer 
citizens. He thus beeame exceedingly popular ; and he was sus-, 
pected by the Patricians of a wish to raise himself to kingly power. 
The unhappy man paid dearly for his ambition or generosity. 
One of the Consuls of the year was T. Quinctius Capitolinus, one of 
the most vehement of the Patricians, who determined to crush 
the attempts of Maelius. To this end he named a Dictator, and 
the person chosen was the old hero L. Quinctius Cincinnatus, 
his kinsman, Avell known as a bitter enemy of the Plebeians, 
who now reappears for a moment upon the stage. The aged 
Dictator entered on his ofiice with all the eagerness of youth ; 
he named C. Servilius Ahala his Master of the Horse ; during 
the night he occupied the Capitol and all the §trong places in 
the city. Next morning he took his seat in the Forum, and 
sent Ahala to summon Maelius before his tribunal. Maelius 
knew that his case was desperate ; for the Dictator being ap- 
pointed, the right of Appeal to the Centuries was for the time 
suspended. He therefore refused to obey the summons ; and, 
on his refusal, Ahala struck him dead upon the spot. Then the 
Dictator gave judgment that the act was necessary and justifi- 
* " Vetus Senator." — Liv. v. 12. 



Chap. XII. STORIES OP TWO POSTUMII. I35 

able : lie treated Mselius as a condemned traitor, and ordered his 
house to be levelled with the ground. The place was called the 
^quiraajlium. His stores of corn were sold at a low rate to the 
poor Plebeians by Minucius. 

Cicero and the ancients always praise the conduct of Ahala, and 
represent him to have saved the commonwealth by his firmness 
and decision. On the other hand, the Plebeians of his own time 
considered Maslius as a martyr to their cause ; and so great was 
their indignation that Ahala, fearing to be indicted for murder, 
was obliged to leave Rome. 

Which is the true view of the case — whether Mselius was a self- 
ish demagogue or a true patriot, or something between the two — 
it is impossible for us in our ignorance to say. But suspicions are 
raised in his favour by remarking that the members of the Quinc- 
tian Gens were generally violent and tyrannical ; and, further, by 
the notice that L. Minucius, the patrician Master of the Market, 
changed his mode of conduct after the death of Mselius so much as 
to desert his own order and become a Plebeian.* 

§ 11. Still more angry feeling is indicated by two narratives 
relating to members of the haughty Postumian Gens. 

In the year 431 e.g., Rome was threatened by a combined 
attack from the -<^quians and Volscians ; and to oppose it A. Pos- 
tumius Tubertus was named Dictator. He defeated the enemy, 
but only by enforcing the most rigorous discipline — so rigorous, 
that he condemned his own son to death because he had pre- 
sumed to attack the enemy, though he conquered them, without 
orders. The story of the severity of the Roman father is better 
known in the case of T. Manlius, which occurred nearly 100 years 
later. 

Again, in the year 414 e.g., M. Postumius Regillensis was 
Military Tribune, and warmly opposed an agrarian law, by 
which it was proposed to divide among the poor Plebeians 
certain lands which had been taken from the ^quians of Lavici 
and Bola. As commander of the army, he threatened to use his 
absolute power (imperium) in punishing any soldier who had 
dared, or should dare to further this agrarian law ; and he made 
good his word by refusing them all share in the plunder of Bola. 
So exasperated were the men by this conduct, that they rose in 
mutiny, and stoned their general to death — a rare instance of in- 
subordination among the soldiers of Rome. For a time, however, 
this violence, as is usually the case, gave advantage to the enemies 
of the Plebeians ; and for some years the Patricians succeeded in 
having Consuls elected instead of Military Tribunes. 

* Livy, iv. 16. 



Emissary of Alban Lake. 
CHAPTER XIII. 

WARS SINCE THE DECEMVIRATE. SIEGE OF VEIL (448 391 B.C.) 

§ 1. Steady advance of Romans on side of ^quians and Volscians. § 2. 
Lower Ktruria, at peace since fall of Fabii. § 3. Renewal of hostilities : 
Cossus wins spolia opima from Lars Tolumnius. § 4. Veii : siege begins 
in 400 B.C. § 5. Appointment of M. Furius Camillus as Dictator. § 6. 
Legend of Overflow of Alban Lake. § 1. Legend of Capture of Veii in 
tenth year of war. § 8. Camillus takes Falerii (story of schoolmaster), 



Chap. XIII. WARS SINCE THE DECEMVIRATB. 137 

Sutrium, Nepete : truce with Volsinii. § 9. Project of removing from 
Rome to Yeii, defeated. § 10. Unpopularity of Camillus : his banishment. 
§ 11. Estimate of his conduct: his parting prayer. 

§ 1. Since the victory gained by tlie Consuls Valerius and Hora- 
tius over the Sabines, no molestation liad been experienced from 
that quarter. The Leagues formed by the great Consul Sp. Cas- 
sius had checked the advance of the Opican nations on the east, 
particularly of the Volscians. These successes continued. The 
towns of Lavici and Bola were recovered from the JEquians ; 
Anxur won from the Volscians, then lost, but again won. Colo- 
nies sent to Ardea in 442 e.g., and to Velitrse in 404, shut out 
the Volscians from the coast-lands ; while northern Latium was 
secured by another Colony planted at Lavici in 418. While the 
narratives of these wars are uncertain and exaggerated, it is clear 
that there was a steady progress on the part of the Latin arms : 
the Opican arms were gradually being forced back into their 
mountains. A great change had taken place since they had been 
in occupation of the Alban Hills, and threatened the very gates of 
Rome. 

§ 2. But if less positive results were obtained against the Opi- 
cans on the east, a war took place against the Etruscans beyond 
the Tiber, which ended in the first considerable addition to the 
Roman territory that had been received since the fall of the 
monarchy. 

It will be recollected that ancient Etruria was described as 
being divided into two portions by the Ciminian hills ; but the 
whole Etruscan nation was considered as constituting twelve great 
communities, of which twelve cities formed the centres.* All 
these communities were independent of each other, being governed 
by oligarchies, while the mass of the population were their clients 
or serfs. For general national purposes these twelve cities formed 
a federation, and their common meeting-place was the Fanum Vol- 
tumnae, which lay on the northern slope of the Ciminian range. 
When the nation engaged in common war, it was usual for them 
to elect a common chief, under the title of Lar or Lars. Such was 
Porsenna of Clusium. 

Since the days of Lars Porsenna, Rome had carried on a desul- 
tory war with the Veientines, as with her neighbours on the eastern 
frontier. But since the fatal day on which the great Fabian Gens 
perished on the Cremera, there had been a cessation of these feuds. 
The quarrel was thus renewed. 

§ 3. Fidena3 was an ancient town on the Sabine side of the 
Tiber, opposite the Cremera, not more than six or seven miles 
from Rome. It was a Roman Colony, but it had repeatedly re- 
* See the description of their country, Chapt. vi. § 9. 



138 EOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book IL 

volted and expelled tlie colonists. The last time that this hap- 
pened the Fidenatians called on Lars Tolumnius of Veil to defend 
them from the Romans. He raised an army of his own people 
combined with the men of Capena and the Faliscans, and marched 
against Rome. The Romans prevailed, and A. Cornelius Cossus, 
one of the Military Tribunes, slew the Veientine king with his 
own hand : the linen cuirass which he took and oflFered up to 
Jupiter was long preserved, and the Emperor Augustus himself 
pointed out to Livy that in the inscription upon it Cossos called 
himself Consul instead of Military Tribune, in order that he might 
have the credit of winning the spolia opima.* After this victory, 
Fidense was taken and razed to the ground : a truce was made with 
Veii. 

§ 4. This truce ended in the year 407 b.c, and the Veientines 
entreated the assistance of their Etruscan kinsfolk against the City 
of the Seven Hills. They met at the Fanum Voltumnse ; but the 
northern states Avere in fear of the Gauls, who were threatening to 
overrun their country,f and Veii was left to defend herself. She 
was no mean rival — as large as Rome, well-peopled, not more than 
twelve miles distant ; and, from the preparations made on the part 
of Rome, it was plain that the war must end in the destruction of 
one city or the other. The Veientines, however, did not dare 
again to meet the Romans in the field, and allowed their city to be 
invested. This was the first time that the Roman jnilitia kept the 
field for a continuance. Hitherto the men had gone forth for a 
short campaign, but now they were obliged to remain in the field 
for the whole year, in order effectually to blockade the enemy's city. 
Hence it became necessary to pay the army for the whole year, 
instead of furnishing them with a small allowance for the summer's 
campaign.^ 

§ 5. But the siege lasted several years without any progress on 
the part of the Romans. Their soldiers were (as Ave have said) a 
kind of militia, unused to the Avork of a regular siege ; and the 
Veientines, assisted noAV by the people of Capena and Falerii, met 
them in the field and defeated them. A panic fear spread from 
the army to Rome ; the matrons crowded to the temples ; the 
Senate met and ordered that a Dictator should be appointed. The 
choice fell on M. Furius Camillus, a great name, which is now 
mentioned for the first time. 

* Liv. iv. 20. For, as Military Tribune, he could not be sole commander 
of the legions. 

•j- They had expelled the Etruscans from the valley of the Po, but Avhen this 
took place is quite unknown. Introduct. Sect. ii. § 9. 

X The regular pay (stipendium) 'was 100 asses a month, or in later times a 
denarius every three days. Of the mode in Avhich the pay was raised an ac- 
count will be given in Chapt. xxxvi. § 7. 



CiiAP.Xm. SIEGE OP VEIL 139 

From about the time of his appointment the story of the siege 
passes into an heroic legend, like those of Coriolanus and the 
Fabii. Thus it runs. 

§ 6. The panic fear which overpowered the people in the seventh 
year of the war was not caused by defeat alone. It was magnified 
by prodigies and marvels : for when summer was now far spent, 
the Alban Lake, which stands high on the Alban Hills without 
any visible outlet for its waters, began to rise, and at length poured 
itself upon the plain below. Prayers and sacrifice availed not; the 
waters still flowed on. Then the Senate sent to consult the oracle 
at Delphi Avhat should be done to avert the mischief. 

Meantime an old Veientine soothsayer was heard to laugh at 
the Romans who were encamped by Veil ; " for," said he, " it is 
written in the Book of Fate that Veil shall never be taken till the 
waters of the Alban Lake find a passage into the sea." A Roman 
centurion who heard this persuaded the old man to come forth 
and advise him about certain matters of his own : then he seized 
the old man, and the generals sent him to Rome to be examined 
by the Senate. But the Senate paid no heed to him till the mes- 
sengers returned from Delphi, and said the same things as the old 
Veientine soothsayer. Then they set to work and made a great 
tunnel leading from the south-western part of the lake to the 
river Anio ; and so the waters escaped into the river, and 
flowed down with its waters into the sea. The tunnel, called in 
Latin an emissarium or out-letter, to which the legend refers, 
still remains. It is hewn through hard volcanic rock for a 
distance of nearly three miles, measuring about five feet in height 
and three in breadth.* It would be a great work even in these 
days.f 

When the Veientines found that the fates were about to be 
fulfilled, they sent messengers to ask for peace. But the Senate 
turned a deaf ear to their prayers ; whereupon one of the messen- 
gers said, " It is written truly that our city should fall ; but it 

* See the Section and Plan at the head of this Chapter. The Alban stone 
is noted for its hardness. To check fires at Rome, the Emperor Augustus or- 
dered that a portion of every new house should be of Alban or Gabian stone. 
— The interpreters suppose that these enigmatical orders darkly hinted at the 
operation of mining, by which (as the legend says) Yeii was taken. 

f There is a similar emissarium to let off the waters of the Fucine Lake 
(Lake of Celano) in the ^quian mountains. It was executed in the time of 
the Emperor Claudius, and is three miles in length from the edge of the lake 
to the bed of the Liris. Its height is about ten feet, and its breadth six. 
Thirty thousand men were engaged for eleven years in the work ; and after all, 
it failed. In our own days, a company has been formed to complete the work, 
the calculated expense being 160,000Z. These facts will give some notion of 
the greatness of the work of draining the Alban Lake, which was successfully 
executed in the infancy of the Roman Republic. 



140 EOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. BOOK U. 

is also written (though, ye know it not), that if Veii should fall, 
Eome shall be destroyed also." But still the Senate listened not, 
and M, Furius Camillus was appointed Dictator, as has been told 
before. 

§7. Camillus dallied not with the work. He was not con' 
tented with blockading the city as before, but began a mine which 
was to open into the citadel ; and when this was ready for spring- 
ing, he sent for all citizens to come from Eome and share in the 
plunder. 

As the Romans stood in the mine, so runs the Legend, the King 
of the Veii was offering a sacrij&ce to Juno in the citadel ; and they 
heard the soothsayer declare that whoever completed that sacrifice 
should prevail. Then Camillus gave the sign, and the Veientines 
were astounded to see armed Romans rise from the floor beneath 
their feet. So they and their king were slain, and the Romans 
completed the sacrifice. And Camillus sent a band of young men 
dressed in white, with hands clean from blood, to carry the statue 
of the great goddess Juno to Rome. But they, not daring to 
touch her, asked whether she were willing to go ; and then (it is 
said) she nodded assent, and the statue was placed in a new tem- 
ple dedicated to her upon the Aventine. 

Thus fell Veii, like Troy, in the tenth year of the war, and the 
people obtained a great booty. And Camillus entered Rome, and 
descended the Sacred Way, and went up to the Capitol in a car 
drawn by four white horses, like the chariot of the sun. Never 
had general so triumphed before, and old men feared that the ven- 
geance of the gods might come upon his pride. 

§ 8. Veii had fallen, and her few allies were not left unpunished. 
First, the Romans attacked and utterly destroyed Capena ; then 
Camillus, who was now a Military Tribune, went against Falerii, 
the chief city of the Falisci,* which also fell an easy prey to the 
Roman arms. The story goes that when he appeared before this 
city a certain schoolmaster, who taught the sons of all the chief 
men, brought them out by stealth and oflPered to put them into the 
hands of the Romans. But Camillus, scorning the baseness of the 
man, ordered that his hands should be tied behind him, and that 
the boys should flog him back again into the town; "for Romans," 
said he, " war not with boys, but with men." Then the Falis- 
cans, won by his noble conduct, willingly surrendered their city . 
(B.C. 394). 

Soon after Sutrium and Nepete also surrendered, and as 
Csere was an ancient ally of Rome, her power was paramount in 

* These Faliscans, though ia Etruria, -were not Etruscans. Virgil calls them 
u^qui Falisci (JEJn. vii. 695). Probably they were of the Opican race, wMch 
inhabited the country before the incoming of the Etruscans. 



Chap. XIII. SIEGE OF VEIL 141 

all the district south of the Ciminian forest. Nor was this alL 
Three years later they came in collision with the powerful city 
of Volsinii, (Bolsena), north of the Ciminian range, and won a 
battle. A peace of twenty years was then concluded. Doubtless 
the same reasons had prevented the northern Etruscans from 
aiding their southern compatriots, and now hastened this peace. 
The Gauls ere this had crossed the Apennines. 

§ 9. The conquest of Veii very nearly proved the ruin of Rome. 
It was a large and beautiful city, well and regularly built, on a 
plain, with a citadel of great natural strength overhanging the 
city. All the plain country round, up to the hills of the Cimi- 
nian forest, were now subject to Rome. The Vei en tines them- 
selves, according to the barbarous practice of ancient times, had 
all been put to the sword or sold into slavery. There stood the 
goodly city empty, inviting people to come and dwell in her. 

On the other hand, Rome with her seven hills presented a 
series of ascents and descents; in the ancient city there was 
hardly a level street. The streets themselves were much less 
regular and handsome than those of Veii, and the climate was 
even then bad, as has been said above.* 

It is not wonderful then that men should turn their thoughts 
towards Veii, especially those poor Plebeians who had no lands at 
Rome. Some called for an agrarian law, to divide the lands of 
Veii among the people ; but T. Sicinus and some of his brother 
Tribunes proposed that half the people should go and settle in 
Veii, so that she should form another state equal to Rome. At 
first this proposal was stopped by the veto of two Tribunes who 
opposed their colleagues ; but at length it was brought before 
the People, who now listened to the reasoning of the Patricians, 
and eleven tribes out of twenty-one voted against the bill : thus 
the Tribunes were defeated even in their own Assembly. 

Happy for Rome that her people were so moderate and reason- 
able. Separation such as was proposed might have condemned 
both Rome and Veii to become obscure Latin towns, like Tuscu- 
lum or Praeneste, and the sovereignty of Italy might have fallen 
to the Samnites or to Pyrrhus of Epirus. But Providence had 
determined that Rome was to be the mistress of the world, and she 
remained unbroken by the will of her own people. 

Satisfied with this victory, the patrician party consented to an 
agrarian law on a large scale. The Veientine lands were distri- 
buted, and seven jugera were allotted to every householder, with 
an additional allowance for his children. 

§ 10. Meantime the great Camillus had lost favour with his 
countrymen. His patrician pride all along diminished the popu- 
* See Chapt. vi. §§ 5 and 6, ■ 



142 ROME UNDER THP:1 PATRICIANS. Book IL 

larity which as a conqueror lie could not fail to win : and lie lost 
still more when he called upon every man to refund a tenth of the 
spoil they had taken at Veii; for though he, in the moment of 
victory, had vowed to offer his tenth to Apollo, yet the plunder 
was taken before there had been time to set apart the portion of 
the god. Poor men ill brook to part with what they think their 
own ; and in this case the whole of the ill-will fell upon the 
general. "His vow," they said, "was a mere pretence to rob the 
Plebeians of their hard-won spoil." 

Still worse than this, it was not long before men came forward 
and accused Camillus of taking much of the booty for his own 
share, which ought to have been fairly divided among all. Espe- 
cially, it was said, he had appropriated the great bronze gates, 
which in those days, when all coin was made of bronze, were 
exceedingly valuable. The general was impeached for corrupt 
practices by L. Appuleius, Tribune of the Plebs (391 b.c.) His 
Clients and Tribesmen offered to pay the fine, which probably 
would have been imposed upon him, but said they could not 
acquit him. He therefore left the city, and as he left it he turned 
about and prayed that his country might soon have reason to feel 
his want and call him back again. Ardea, a city of the Latins, was 
his place of refuge. 

§ 11. There can be little doubt that the great Camillus really 
took these gates. But how far he was guilty of an illegal act we 
cannot determine. He might think that he was entitled to them, 
for it was acknowledged that a general had a right to set apart a 
portion for himself: and we may well believe that his chief fault 
was, that in his pride he arrogated to himself more than was 
generally thought right. All would wish to believe that so great 
a man was not to be blamed for greed and baseness. 

His parting prayer was heard : for " the Gaul was at the gates," 
and the next year saw Rome in ashes. 




Geese of the Capitol (?). 



CHAPTEE XIV. 



THE GAULS. (390 B.C.) 

§ 1. Introductory. § 2. "Who the G-auls were. § 3. Migration of Celtio 
mations : occupation of Northern Italy by Gauls. § 4. Who those Gauls 
were that burnt Rome. § 5. Legend of quarrel with Gauls, and battle of 
Alia. § 6 — 8. Of sack of Rome and blockade of Capitol. § 9. Of delivery 
by Camillus. § 10. Falsehood of last Legend. § 11. Later inroads of 
Gauls. § 12. Legends of T. Manlius Torquatus and M. Valerius Corvus. 

§ 1. The course of Roman History, hitherto disturbed only by 
petty border wars, now suffers a great convulsion. Over her 
neighbours on the east and north the Republic was in the 
ascendant ; on the west, the frail oligarchies of Etruria had sunk 
before Camillus and his hardy soldiers ; when, by an untoward 
union of events, Rome saw her best general depart from her walls, 
and heard of the barbarian host which was wasting the fair land of 
Italy. The Gauls burst upon Latium and the adjoining lands with 
the suddenness of a thunder-storm; and, as the storm, with all its 
fury and destructiveness, yet clears the loaded air and restores 
a balance between the disturbed powers of nature, so it was 
with this Gallic hurricane. It swept over the face of Italy, 
crushing and destroying. The Etruscans were weakened by it ; 
and if Rome herself was laid prostrate, the Latins also suffered 



144 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book U. 

greatly, the Volscians trembled, and the ^quians were irrecover- 
ably weakened. 

§ 2. Before telling tbe tale of the destruction of Rome by tbe 
Gauls, it will be well to ask — Who were these Gauls? 

They were a tribe of that large race of mankind who are known 
under the name of Celts, and who at the time in question peopled 
nearly the whole of Western Europe, from the heart of Germany 
to the ocean. The northern and central parts of the continent 
were already in the hands of various nations, called by the com- 
mon name of Germans or Teutons, to whom belonged the Goths, 
Saxons, Danes, Normans, Lombards, Franks, and Alemanni, — 
names which yet live in Europe. But the Celts in earlier times 
possessed a far extended range of country — France, great part of 
Germany, most of Spain and Portugal, together with the British 
Isles. Of these Celts there were, and still are, two great divisions, 
commonly called Gael and Cymri, differing in habits and lan- 
guage.* The ancient inhabitants of France were Gael, those 
of Britain and Belgica were Cymri ; and the Druidical religion, 
though sometimes adopted by the Gael, was properly and 
originally Cymric. Gael are still found in Ireland and in the 
Highlands of Scotland ; Cymri in Wales and Low Brittany ; and 
they have left traces of their name in Cumber-land. But the 
great Celtic race, once so widely spread, has been, as it were, 
pushed into the sea by the Gothic and German tribes. The few 
fragments of them that remain are usually found on the western 
verge of their old countries. 

§ 3. Now before the time we are now speaking of, there had 
been a great movement in these Celtic nations. Two great swarms 
went out from Gaul. Of these, one crossed the Alps into Italy; 
the other, moving eastward, in the course of time penetrated into 
Greece and then passed into Asia Minor, Avhere they were 
known under the name of Galatians.f 

It is supposed that the Gael who dwelt in the eastern parts of 
Gaul, being oppressed by Cymric tribes of the west and north, 
went forth to seek new homes in distant lands, as in later times 
the Gothic and German tribes were driven in the contrary direc- 
tion by the Huns and other Asiatic hordes, who Avere thronging 
into Europe from the east. At all events, it is certain, that 
large bodies of Celts passed over the Alps before and after 

* Celt is strictly the same as G-ael {KeXr-ai, Talar-ai, Gall-i, Gael, being 
all one), and therefore is itself properly opposed to Cymri. But it is convenient 
to have one common name, and most modern writers have taken Celt or Kelt 
as the generic appellation of the race. 

f They plundered the temple of Delphi in 279 B.C., rather more than a 
century after their compatriots sacked Rome. See Dr. Smith's History of 
Greece, chapt. xlvi. § 4- 



Chap. XIV. THE GAULS. I45 

this time, and Laving once tasted the wines and eaten the 
fruits uf Italy were in no hurry to return from that fair laud 
into their own less hospitable regions. We read of one swarm 
after another pressing into the Land of Promise ; parties of 
Lingones, whose fathers lived about Langres in Champagne ; 
Boians, whose name is traced in French Bourbon and Italian 
Bologna ; Senones, whose old country was about Sens,* and who 
have left record of themselves in the name of Senigaglia, (Sena 
Gallica) on the coast of the Adriatic. The course taken by 
these adventurers Avas probably over divers passes of the Alps, 
from that of the Mount Cenis and the Little St. Bernard to the 
Simplon. Pouring from these outlets, they overran the rich plains 
of Northern Italy, and so occupied the territory which lies 
between the Alps, the Apennines, and the Adriatic,! that the 
Romans called this territory Gallia Cisalpina, or Hither Gaul. 
The northern Etruscans gave way before these fierce barbarians, 
and their name is heard of no more in those parts. Thence the 
Gauls crossed, the Apennines into Southern Etruria, and while 
they were ravaging that country they first came in contact with 
the sons of Rome. 

§ 4. The common date for this event is 390 b.c. How long 
before this time the Gallic hordes had been pouring into Italy we 
know not. But whenever it was that they first passed over the 
Alps, it is certain that now they first crossed the Apennines. 

The tribe which took this course were of the Senones, as all 
authors say, and therefore we may suppose they were Gaelic; but 
it has been thought they Avere mixed with Cymri, since the name 
of their king or chief was Brenmcs, and Brenhin is Cymric for a 
King.^ They are described as large-limbed, with fair skins, 
yellow hair, and blue eyes, in all respects contrasted with the 
natives of Southern Italy — a description which suits Gael better 
than Cymri. Their courage was high, but their tempers fickle. 
They were more fitted for action than endurance ; able to conquer, 
but not steady enough to maintain and secure their conquests. 
These qualities attributed to the Gallic nations of antiquity, ghow 
themselves remarkably in their descendants. Nowhere, as above 
observed, have the Celts been able to sustain the approach pf the 
German nations ; even in Gaul, transformed as it was by Roman 
civilisation, the Germans prevailed. The modern French nation is 

* "Senonumque priores," says Juvenal, whereas Polybius writes their 
name ^rjvove^. But other Gallic names in -ones are pronounced short (as 
Lingones, Santones Vascones, &c.), and therefore we follow Juvenal. 

f All of it except Liguria, which was bounded by the Apennines and Mari- 
time Alps, the Po and the Trebia. 

X The same title is given to the chief who led the assault upon Delphi. 
'7 



146 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book IL 

a compound of these conquerors, Goths, Vandals, Franks, North- 
men, with the original Celtic population. 

§ 5. Such is a brief account of the Gauls who destroyed Eome, 
Now begins the Roman Legend. 

Brennus and his barbarians (it was said or sung) passed into 
Etruria at the invitation of Aruns, a citizen of Clusium (Chiusi), 
whose daughter had been dishonoured by a young Lucumo or 
Noble of the same place. To avenge his private wrongs this 
Etruscan called in the Gauls, as Count Julian in the Spanish 
romance called in the Moors to avenge the seduction of his 
daughter by Roderic the Goth. The Gauls, nothing loth, 
crossed the mountains, and laid siege to Clusium ; on which 
the Etruscans of the city, terrified and helpless, despairing 
of effectual succour from their own countrymen, sent to seek 
aid from the city of the Tiber, which had formerly measured 
arms with their own King Porsenna, and which but now had 
conquered so many old Etruscan cities. Common danger makes 
friends of foes ; and the Senate determined tp support the 
Etruscans against the barbarians. However, all they did was 
to send three ambassadors, sons of Fabius Ambustus, the 
Pontifex Maximus, to warn the Gauls not to meddle further 
with the men of Clusium, for Clusium was the ally of Rome. 
The barbarians took slight notice of the message, and continued 
the war. Now it chanced that there was a battle fought 
while the three Fabii were still at Clusium; and they, forgetting . 
their peaceful character as envoys, took part with the Clusians 
against the Gauls, and one of them was seen stripping the arms 
off a Gallic champion whom he had slain. The barbarians, 
in high wrath, demanded to be led straight against the city 
whose sons were so faithless; but their chiefs restrained them, 
and sent an embassy to Rome demanding that the envoys 
should be given up. Then the Senate, not caring to decide so 
weighty a matter, referred it to the People ; and so far were they 
from listening to the demands of the Gauls, that at the Comitia 
next ensuing, these very envoys were all three elected Military 
Tribunes. On hearing of this gross and open insult, Brennus 
broke up his camp at Clusium, and the Gauls marched southward 
for Rome. The river Clanis, upon which stood Clusium, led them 
down to the Tiber beneath Vulsinii ; they crossed that river, and 
pouring down its left bank, they found themselves confronted 
by the Romans on the banks of the Alia, a little stream that 
rises in the Sabine hills and empties itself into the Tiber at a 
point nearly opposite the Cremera. Their left rested on the 
Tiber, the Alia was in their front, and their right occupied 
some hilly ground. Brennus did not attempt to attack in front, 



CiiAP. XIV. THE GAULS. 147 

but threw himself with an overpowering force upon the right 
flank of the enemy ; and the Romans, finding their position 
turned, were seizecl with panic fear and fled. The greater part 
plunged into the Tiber in the hope of escaping across the river 
to Veii, and many made their escape good; but many were 
drowned, and many pierced by Gallic javelins. A still smaller 
number made their way to Rome, and carried home news of the 
disaster. 

The Gauls cared not to pursue the flying foe. One day, or 
even two days (as some accounts give it), they spent in col- 
lecting trophies and rejoicing in their great and easy victory. 

§ 6. Meantime the Senate at Rome did what was possible to 
retrieve their fallen fortunes. With all the men of military age 
they withdrew into the Capitol, for they had not numbers 
enough to man the walls of the City. These were mainly 
Patricians. The mass of the Plebeians, with the women, fled to 
Veii. The priests and vestal virgins, carrying with them the 
sacred images and utensils, found refuge at the friendly Etruscan 
city of Caere. But the old senators, who had been Consuls or 
Censors, and had won triumphs and grown gray in their country's 
service, feeling themselves to be now no longer a succour but a 
burthen, determined to sacrifice themselves for her ; and M. 
Fabius, the Pontifex, recited the form of words * by which they 
solemnly devoted themselves to the gods below, praying that on 
their heads only might fall the vengeance and the destruction. 
Then, as the Gauls approached, they ordered their ivory chairs 
to be set in the Comitium before the temples of the gods,f and 
there they took their seats, each man clad in his robes of state, 
to await the coming of the avenger. 

§ 7. At length the Gallic host approached the city and came 
to the CoUine gate. It stood wide open before their astonished 
gaze, and they advanced slowly, not without suspicion, through 
deserted streets, unresisted and unchecked. When they reached 
the Forum, there within its sacred precincts they beheld those 
venerable men, sitting like so many gods descended from Heaven 
to protect their own. They gazed with silent awe : till at length 
a Gaul, hardier than his brethren, ventured to stroke the long 
beard of M. Papirius. The old hero raised his ivory staff" and 
smote the off"ender ; whereupon the barbarian in wrath slew him ; 
and this first sword-stroke gave the signal for a general slaughter. 
Then the Romans in the Capitol believed that the gods had 
accepted the off'ering which those old men had made, and that 
the rest would be saved. 

* Oarmen, as the Eomans called it. 

f Livy says that they sat in the porticoes of their own houses 



•]'48 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. 

But for a time tliey were doomed to look down inactive upon 
the pillage of their beloved city. Fires broke out, and all the 
houses perished, except some upon the Palatine, which were 
saved for the convenience of the chiefs. At length the Gauls, 
sated with plunder, resolved to assault the Capitol. . In those 
days it was surrounded on all sides with steep scarped clifts, and 
only approachable from the Forum by the Sacer Clivus. Here 
the Gauls made their assault; but it was easily repulsed, and 
henceforth they contented themselves with a blockade. A por- 
tion of them remained in the city, while the rest roamed 
through Southern Italy, plundering and destroying. 

§ 8. The months that follow are embellished with more than one 
heroic Legend. We read that while the Gauls were lying at the 
foot of the Capitol, they were astonished to see a youth named 
C Fabius Dorso come down into the midst of them, clad in 
sacred attire, and pass through the Forum along the Sacred 
Way to the Quirinal Hill, there to perform certain solemn rites 
peculiar to the great Fabian Gens.* Struck with religious awe, 
they suffered the bold youth to go upon his way and return to 
the Capitol unharmed. 

Still more famous is the Legend of M. Manlius, the saviour of 
the Capitol. The Plebeians at Veil were anxious to communi- 
cate with the Senate and Patricians there; and for this pur- 
pose Pontius Cominius, a brave patrician youth, undertook 
to climb up the steep rock of the Capitoline Hill on the river 
side.f He explained to the Senate the wish of the People to 
recal Camillus and make him Dictator ; and having obtained 
their sanction, he returned the same way in safety. But next 
day, the Gauls observed the marks on the rock where his feet 
had rested, or where he had clung for support to the tufted 
grass and bushes. Where one man had climbed another could 
follow; and a chosen jjarty cautiously ascended by the same 
track. The foremost of them was just reaching the top in 
safety ; the guards slept ; not even a watch-dog bayed. But in 
the temple of Juno, which stood hard by, certain sacred geese 
were kept, and the pious Romans (so ran the legend) had spared 
to eat of these even in the extremities of hunger. And they 
were rewarded. For now, in the hour of need, the sacred birds 
began to cackle aloud and flap their wings, so that they roused 
M. Manlius from sleep. Then he, hastily snatching up his arms, 
rushed to the edge of the cliff where the noise Avas, and found a 
Gaul who had just reached the top. On he rushed and pushed 

* See the legend of the Cremera, Chapt. ix. § 5. 

f The place designated was somewhere near the steps which now lead up 
to the Capitol, near the church of Araceli. 



Chap. XIV. THE GAULS. 149 

liiiu backward ; and his fall so alarmed his comrades, that some 
fell down, and others Avere slain without resistance. Thus did 
M. Manlius save the Capitol ; and his fellow-soldiers honoured 
his bravery so highly, that each man gave him a day's allowance 
oi, food, notwithstanding the distress to which all had been re- 
duced. 

§ 9. For seven months did the Gauls blockade the Capitol.'* 
They entered the city in the heat of the Dog-days,f and the two 
months that follow are at Rome the most unhealthy of the year. 
Unused to the sultry climate, naturally intemperate, living in 
the open air, numbers of them fell a prey to pestilence and fever. 
But with stubborn courage they braved all, till at length Brennus 
agreed to quit Rome on condition of receiving 1000 pounds 
weight of gold. This was hastily collected, partly from the 
temples of the Capitol, partly from private sources ; and when 
it was being weighed out, Brennus with insolent bravado threw 
in his sword with the weights, crying, " Woe to the vanquished !" 
While the scale was yet turning (so ran the legend), Camillus, 
who had successfully repulsed the Gauls from Ardea, and then as 
Dictator had taken the command of the Roman army at Veii, 
marched into the Forum. Sternly he ordered the gold to be 
taken away, saying that with iron, not with gold, would he 
redeem the city. Then he drove the Gauls away, and so com- 
pletely destroyed their host, that not a man was left to carry 
home the news of their calamity. 

§ 10. Such "was the conclusion of the Legend. But, unfortu- 
nately for Roman pride, here also, as in the tale of Porsenna, 
traces of true history are preserved which show how little the 
Roman annalists regarded truth. Polybius tells us, as if he 
knew no other story, that the departure of the Gauls was caused 
by the intelligence that the Venetians, an Illyrian tribe, had 
invaded their settlements in Northern Italy, and that they 
actually received the gold and marched off unmolested to their 
homes. It is added by a later historian, that Drusus, the elder 
brother of the Emperor Tiberius, recovered this very gold from 
the Gauls of his own day. This last account at least shows that 
in the time of Drusus the heroic Legend of Camillus found little 
credence. 

The Gauls left the city in ruins, in whatever way they 
Avere compelled to retire, whether by the sword of Camillus, or 

* So says Polybius, ii. 22. Varro and Florus say six, Servius eigJii. 

f The battle of the Alia was fought about the summer solstice (Plutarch, 
Camill. c. 19). The Kalends of August was the day marked in the Kalendar 
as ill-omened in consequence of this battle. But the uncertainty of the year 
has akeady been noticed, Chapt, i. § 17, Note. 



150 KOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. BOOK 11. 

by tlie softer persuasion of gold. Of the effects of their inva- 
sions and the- condition of Rome thereafter, we will speak in the 
next chapter. 

§ 11. It may be convenient to mention beforehand the two 
later invasions, which perhaps were quite as formidable as tljg 
first, though the Romans now resisted with greater courage and 
firmness. 

Thirty years after the first irruption (361 b.c), we hear that 
another host of Senonian Gauls burst into Latium from the 
Nortli, and in alliance with the people of Tibur, ravaged the lands 
of Rome, Latium, and Campania. For four years they continued 
their ravages, and then we hear of them no more. 

A third irruption followed, ten years later, of still more formi- 
dable character. The Gauls formed a stationary camp on the 
Alban Hills, and kept Rome in perpetual terror. But, in the 
second year, the Romans, under the command of L. Furius Ca- 
millus, a nephew of the great M. Camillus, took the field against 
them, and so harassed them by cutting ofi" their supplies, with- 
out venturing on a general action, that after some months they 
poured southward, and disappear from history. Therefore Lucius 
Camillus was called by Aristotle " the Deliverer of Rome" from 
the Gauls.* (b.c. 350, 349.) 

After this, the Romans did not come in contact with the. Gauls 
for many years ; and then they were the invaders of Gallia 
Cisalpina, not the Gauls of Latium. 

§ 12. These later inroads of the Gauls are distinguished by two 
famous Legends ; the last, or nearly the last, which occur in the 
pages of Roman history. 

In the Manlian house there was a Family which bore the name 
of Torquatus. This name was said to have been won by T. 
Manlius, who fought with a gigantic Gallic champion on the 
bridge over the Anio in 361 b.c, and slew him. From the neck 
of the slain enemy he took the massy chain (torques) which the 
Gallic chiefs were in the habit of wearing.f He put it round 
his own neck, and returning in triumph to his friends, was 
ever after known by the name of T. Manlius Torquatus. Of him 
we shall hear more in the sequel. 

Again, when L. Camillus was pursuing the Gauls through the 
Volscian plains in 349 B.C., a champion challenged any one of the 
Roman youth to single combat. The challenge was readily 

* Plutarch, Camill. c. 22. Aristotle was born in 384 B.C., and was living 
at Athens when this last invasion tooli place. From this and other facts, we 
see that the affau-s of Italy were now exciting interest in Greece. 

t " Lactea coUa 

Auro innectuntur." — ViRG. JEn. viii. 660. 



Chap. XIV. THE GAULS. 151 

accepted by M. Valerius, avIio, by tbe side of the huge Gaul, looked 
like a mere stripling. At the beginning of the combat (wonder- 
ful to tell) a crow lighted upon his helmet ; and as they fought, the 
bird confounded the Gaul by flying in his face and striking him 
with his beak, and flapping his wings before his eyes ; so that he 
fell an easy conquest to the young Roman. Hence M. Valerius 
was ever known by the name of Corvus, and his descendants after 
him. Him also we shall hear of hereafter ; for he lived to be a 
great general, and more than once delivered his country from 
great danger. 




As, with head of Janus. 



CHAPTER XV. 



SEQUEL OF THE GALLIC WAR. LICINIAN LAWS. FINAL EQUALISATION 
OF THE TWO ORDERS. (389 307 B.C.) 

§ 1. Proposition to migrate to Veii renewed ; defeated by an omen. § 2. Ir- 
regularity in rebuilding the City. § 3. Misery of the people. § 4. M. 
Manlius comes forward as their patron: his fate. § 5. Estimate of his 
character. §6. Measures to conciliate the Plebs : Fournew Tribes created 
from the Veientine territory. § T. Claims of the Plebeians to the Consul- 
ate renewed by C. Licinius and L. Sextius. § 8. Pretended cause of their 
enterprise. § 9. The three Licinian Eogations promulgated 316 B.C. § 10. 
First, for reduction of debt. § 11. Second, agrarian. § 12. Third, pohti- 
cal. § 13. Violent opposition of the Patricians, met by an interdict on all 
elections by Licinius and Sextius. § 14. Struggle prolonged for five years. 
§ 15. Compromise refused by the Tribunes: after five years more the Li- 
cinian Rogations become Law. §16. Sextius first Plebeian Consul : Patri- 
cian Curies refuse him the Imiierium. § 17. This Quarrel adjusted: judi- 
cial power of the Consul transferred to a new Patrician Magistrate : the 
Praetor: Curule ^diles. § 18. Camillus vows a Temple to Concord; rapid 
rise of Roman power consequent on the Union of the Orders. 

§ 1. We can imagine better tlian describe tbe blank dismay with 
Avhicli the Romans, on the departure of the Gauls, must have 
looked upon their ancient homes. Not only were the fields 



Chap. XY. EEBUILDING OF EOME. I53 

ravaged and tlie farms of the plebeian yeomen destroyed, as had 
often happened in days of yore, but the city itself, except the 
Capitol, was a heap of ruins. It is not strange that once again 
the Plebeians should have thought of quitting Rome for ever. 
Not long before a great body of them had Avished to make Veii 
their city ; now, the bulk of the people had actually been living 
there for many months. Rome no longer existed ; patriotism, it 
•might be said, no longer required them to stand by their ancient 
home : why should not all depart — Patricians Avith their Clients 
and Freedmen, as well as Plebeians — and make a new Rome at 
Veii ? Thus was the question argued, and so it seemed likely to 
be decided. In vain Camillus opposed it with all the influence 
which his late services had given him. Even standing in the 
Forum, under the shadoAv of the Capitol, Avith the Citadel so Avell 
defended by Manlius over their heads, in the sight of their coun- 
try's gods, Avhich had noAV been safely brought back from the 
friendly refuge of Caere, the Plebeians Avere ready to agree to a 
general migration of the whole people, Avhen (so runs the story) 
a sudden omen changed their hearts and minds. A certain cen- 
turion Avas leading a party of soldiers through the city, and, halt- 
ing them in the Forum Avhile the question was in hot debate, he 
used these memorable Avords : " Standard-bearer, pitch the stand- 
ard here ; here it will be best for us to stay !" 

§ 2. It was therefore resolved to rebuild the city, and the Senate- 
did all in their power to hasten on the work. They took care to 
retrace, as far as might be, the ancient sites of the temples ; but 
the hurry Avas too great and authority too Aveak to prescribe any 
rules for marking out the streets and fixing the habitations of tho- 
citizens. All they did was to supply tiling for the houses at the 
public expense. Then men built their houses Avhere they could, 
where the ground Avas most clear of rubbish, or Avhere old ma- 
terials Avere most easy to be got. Hence, Avhen these houses came 
to be joined together by others, so as to form streets, these streets 
Avere narroAV and crooked, and, Avhat was still worse were often built 
across the lines of the ancient scAvers, so that there was noAv 
no good and effectual drainage. The irregularity continued till 
Rome was again rebuilt after the great fire in the time of the Em- 
peror Nero. 

§ 3. Great were the evils that were caused by this hurry. Tlie 
healthiness of the city must have been impaired, order and de- 
cency must have suftered, but there was one particular evil at 
the moment Avhich threatened very great mischief. The mass of 
the people, having little or nothing of their OAvn, or having lost all 
in the late destruction, Avere obliged to borrow money in order 
to complete their dwellings ; and as tillage had for the last season 

V* 



154 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. 

been nearly suspended, tlie want and misery that prevailed was 
great. Now we have seen that the Twelve Tables did indeed regu- 
late the rate of interest, but left untouched the ancient severity of 
the laws of debt ;* so that now again, as after the wars against 
the Tarquins, many of the poorer sort were reduced to bondage in 
the houses of the wealthy Patricians and Plebeians ; for the latter 
now possessed many rich members, and the rich persons of both 
orders began to act together. 

§ 4. Then it was that M. Manlius, the defender of the Capitol, 
stood forth as the patron of the poor. He saw a debtor being 
taken to prison, whom he recognised as a brave centurion that 
had formerly served with him in the wars. He instantly paid 
the man's debt and set him free. After this he did the same 
for many others ; and, selling the best part of his landed pro- 
perty, he declared that while he could prevent it he would never 
see a fellow-citizen imprisoned for debt. His popularity rose 
high, and with the poorer sort the name of M. Manlius was 
more in esteem than that of the great Camillus. Nor did he 
content himself with relieving want ; he also stepped forward as 
an accuser of the Patricians and Senators : they had divided 
among themselves, he said, part of the gold which had been 
raised to pay the Gauls. On the other hand, the Patricians 
asserted that Manlius was endeavouring to make himself tyrant 
of Rome, and that this was the real purpose of all his generosity. 
The Senate ordered a Dictator to be named, and Au. Cornelius 
Cossus was the person chosen. He summoned Manlius before 
him, and required him to prove the charge which he had mali- 
ciously brought against the ruling body. He failed to do so and 
was cast into prison, but claimed to be regularly tried before the 
whole people assembled in their Centuries ; and his claim was 
allowed. On the appointed day he appeared in the Campus 
Martius, surrounded by a crowd of debtors, every one of whom 
he had redeemed from bondage. Then he exhibited spoils taken 
from thirty enemies slain by himself in single combat ; eight 
civic crowns bestowed each of them for the life of a citizen 
saved in battle, with many other badges given him in token of 
bravery. He laid bare his breast and showed it all scarred with 
wounds, and then turning to the Capitol, he called those gods to 
aid whom he had saved from the sacrilegious hands of the bar- 
barians. The appeal was felt, and if i the Centuries had then 
given their votes, he would certainly have been acquitted of high 
treason. So his enemies contrived to break up that Assembly; and 
shortly after he was put on his trial in another place, the Peteline 
grove, whence (it is said) the Capitol could not be seen. Here he 
* Chapt. xi. § 4. 



i 



CHiP. XV. M. MANLIUS. 155 

was at once found guilty, and condemned to be thrown down the 
Tarpeian rock, A bill was then brought in and passed, enacting 
that his house on the Capitol should be destroyed, and that no one 
of his Gens should hereafter bear the forename of Marcus.'* 

§ 5. When we read this story, like those of Sp. Cassius and 
Sp. M^elius, we again ask, was M. Manlius really a traitor or no ? 
It is difficult to give a positive answer, yet there are circum- 
stances which show that probably he was not free from guilt. The 
ostentatious way in which he relieved the debtors is no good sign ; 
and we read that in the first trial the Tribunes of the Plebs were 
against him. It is not unlikeiy that he endeavoured to exalt him- 
self by means of the poorest classes, and thus raised against him 
not only the Patrician Lords, but also all the wealthier Plebeians, 
or indeed men of all orders, who had cause to fear disorder and 
revolution. There are several different accounts of his trial and 
latter days. One historianf tells us that Manlius forestalled his 
arrest by heading an insurrection, and, seizing the Capitol, where 
he himself dwelt,J bade defiance to the power of the Senate, But 
they craftily engaged a false friend of the traitor in their interest ; 
and he, pretending to have something important to tell, led Man- 
lius to the edge of the Tarpeian rock and then pushed him un- 
awares over the brink. 

All accounts agree at least in this, that Manlius had made him- 
self dangerous to public order, and, in the unsettled state of affairs 
which then prevailed, it is more than probable that the Senate 
resorted to unusual, perhaps unconstitutional, measures to put him 
down. 

§ 6, The Senate, however, also had recourse to conciliatory 
measures. The lands Vhich had been taken from the Veientines 
on the right bank of the Tiber were now incorporated into the 
Roman territory and divided into four Tribes, so that all free 
men settled in these districts became burgesses of Rome, and 
had votes .in the Comitia both of the Centuries and Tribes. 
This politic measure, however, served no less to conciliate the 
aff"ections of their new Etrurian subjects than to benefit their 
own poor citizens.§ Moreover an attempt was made to plant a 
number of poor citizens in the Pontine district. Yet these 

* It may be observed that each gens et familia clung to the same forenames. 
Thus Publius, Lucius, Cneius, were favourite forenames of the Comelii ; Caius 
oftheJulii; Appius of the Claudii; and so on. 

f Dio Cassius, Fragm. xxxi., ed. Eeimar. ; also as abridged by Zonaras, 
vii. 24. 

X He was sumamed Capitolinus from this circumstance probably, and not 
because he saved the Capitol. For we have other families called by the same 
name, as that of T. Quinctius CapitoUnus. 

§ See Chapt. xviii. § 2. 



1-56 ROME UNDER THE :e:A.TRICIANS. Book n. 

measures were insufficient to heal the breach which still subsisted 
between the Patricians and Plebeians. Nothing could be effectual 
to this end but the admission of the Plebeians to the chief magis- 
tracy ; and a struggle now commenced for that purpose whict 
ended successfully. 

• § 7. It has been often repeated, that all difference between the 
Patrician and Plebeian Orders was rapidly disappearing, or rather 
that the Patrician families were dying off, and the numbers of 
their order gradually becoming less, while many Plebeian fami- 
lies were becoming wealthy and powerful. Already we have 
seen the Plebeians obtain a footing in the Senate ; already they 
were allowed to fill the offices of Quaestor and -^dile, and, as Mili- 
tary Tribunes, could command the armies of the state ; but to 
the highest curule oflices, as the Censorship and Consulship, they 
were not admissible, the reason given being, that for these offices 
the auguries must be taken, and no religious rites could be per- 
formed save by persons of pure Patrician blood. This now 
began to be felt to be a mockery. Men saw with their OAvn eyes 
and judged with their own understanding that Patricians and 
Plebeians were men of like natures and like faculties, were all 
called on alike to share burthens and dangers in the service of 
the state, and therefore ought to share alike the honours and 
dignities Avhich she conferred. So Canuleius argued many years 
before, so the Plebeians thought now ; and two resolute, clear- 
headed Tribunes arose, who proposed, and at length carried, the 
celebrated laws by which Plebeians Avere admitted to the highest 
honours. 

These two men were C. Licinius Stole and L. Sextius his kins- 
man. 

§ 8. There is a well-known story of the manner in which they 
were first roused to the u^ndertaking. It runs thus. M. Fabius 
Ambustus, a Patrician, had two daughters, the elder married to 
Serv. Sulpicius, a Patrician, the younger to C. Liciijius, a Ple- 
beian. It happened that Sulpicius was Consular Tribune in the 
same year that Licinius was Tribune of the Plebs ; and as the 
younger Fabia was on a visit to her sister, Sulpicius, return- 
ing home from the Forum with his lictors, alarmed the Plebeian's 
wife by the noise he made on entering the house. The elder 
sister laughed at this ignorance ; and the younger Fabia, stung 
to the quick, besought her husband to place her on a level 
with her proud sister. Thus, it is said, did Licinius form the 
design which we have now to speak of. It may be observed, by 
the way, that the story must be an invention; — because, Lici- 
nius' wife being daughter of a man who had himself been Con- 
sular Tribune not long before, could not have been ignorant of 



Chap. XY. LICINIAN ROGATIONS. 157 

the dignities of tlie office ; and because there was nothing in the 
world to prevent Licinius himself from being Consular Tribune, 
and thus equal in power and dignity to his brother-in-law. No 
doubt Licinius and his kinsman were led by higher motives and 
better principles to bring forward their laws. 

§ 9. However this might be, Licinius and Sextius, being Tri- 
bunes of the Plebs together in the year 3Y6 b.c, promulgated 
the three bills which have ever since borne the name of the Lici- 
NiAN Rogations. These were : 

L That of all debts on which interest had been paid, the sum 
of the interest paid should be deducted from the principal and 
the remainder paid off in three successive years. 

II. That no citizen should hold more than 500 jugera (nearly 
320 acres) of the Public Land, nor should feed on the public 
pastures more than 100 head of larger cattle and 500 of smaller, 
under penalty of a heavy fine. 

III. That henceforth Consuls, not Consular Tribunes, should 
always be elected, and that one of the two Consuls must he a 
Plebeian. 

- § 10. Of these laws, the first is of a kind not very uncommon 
in rude states of society, and in such only could it fail to pro- 
duce great and serious mischief. If persons lend and borrow 
money, Avithout violating the law, they enter into a legal con- 
tract, and the State is bound to maintain this contract, not to 
annul or alter it. Cases will occur when the borrower is unable 
to pay his debts, and that from no fault or neglect of his own ; 
and it is good that laws should be enacted to provide for such 
cases of insolvency, — cases, that is, in which the insolvent is not 
guilty of fraud or neglect. These laws must be general and 
known beforehand, so that when the parties make the contract 
they may do it with their eyes open. But if the State were often 
to cancel legal debts, in whole or in part, this would shake all 
confidence, persons would be very slow to lend money at all, 
and thus credit and commerce would be destroyed. But at 
Rome in the times after the Gallic war, as at Athens in the time 
of Solon (when a similar ordinance was passed)* all things were 
in such confusion, all law so weakened, all trade so utterly at a 
stand-still, that it might possibly be necessary to resort to vio- 
lent and arbitrary measures of this kind ; and we may well believe 
that Licinius, who was himself a wealthy man, would not have 
interfered in this way but for a presumed necessity. It must be 
* His famous oEiaaxdeia, or Disburthening Ordinance, by which all existing 
debts were wiped out. See Dr. Smith's History of Greece, chapt. x. § 12. 
So, after the wars of the League in France, SuUy deducted from the principal 
of all debts the usurious interest already paid, and left the remainder standuig 
at the legal rate of interest. 



158 EOMB UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. 

added that tlie Roman law, at that time, was too favourable to 
the creditor, and quite insuflScient to protect the debtor. But 
the precedent was a bad one ; and in later times one of the worst 
means by which demagogues pandered to the dishonest wishes 
of the people was a promise of novce tabulce, or an abolition of all 
standing debts. 

§ 11. The second law was a general Agrarian Law. We need 
only refer here to what has before been said as to the nature of 
Agrarian Laws at Rome, namely, that they were not intended to 
confiscate private property, but to divide among needy citizens 
the state-lands, which by the law of the state belonged to the 
whole body of citizens.* Former Agrarian laws had merely di- 
vided certain portions of state-land (ager publicus) among the 
needy citizens ; but this proposed to lay down a general rule, by 
which the holding (possessio) of all the state-lands was to be 
limited. The purpose of Licinius was a good one. He wished to 
maintain that hardy race of independent yeomen who were the 
best soldiers in the state-militia ; whereas if all these lands were 
absorbed by the rich, they would be cultivated by hired labourers 
or slaves. The subsequent history will show how unfortunate it 
was for Rome that this law was not more fully executed. 

§ 12. These two laws were of a social nature,, attempting to 
regulate the private relations and dealings of the citizens : the 
third was a political law, and needs no remark. It went to afiirm 
that the Plebeians had an equal right to supreme power with the 
Patricians. 

§ 13. At first the Patricians were equally opposed to all these 
laws ; they were the chief creditors, and therefore would lose by 
the first law ; they held the bulk of the state-lands on easy 
terms, and therefore would lose by the second ; they alone could 
be Consuls, and therefore they could not brook the third. We 
need not therefore wonder at a violent resistance ; nor is it won- 
derful that they should enlist many rich Plebeians on their side, 
for these persons would suffer as much as themselves from the 
first two laws. Accordingly we find that in the college of Tri- 
bunes of the Plebs some Tribunes were found to put a veto on 
the bills. But Licinius and Sextius would not be thus thwarted, 
and themselves turned the powerful engine of the veto against 
their opponents. When the time of the elections arrived they 
interdicted all proceedings in the Comitia of the Centuries : con- 
sequently no Consuls, Consular Tribunes, Censors, or Quaestors 

* Appian (Bell. Civ. i. 8) states this so clearly, that it is surprising that the 
common misapprehensions should ever have arisen. After explaining what 
the Public Land was, he says that Licinius ordained fxrjdsva exeiv TH2AE 
THS FHS 'jvMdpa nevTaKoaiuv nTieiova, k. t. "k. 



Chap. XV. LICINIAN ROaATIONS. 159 

could be elected. The Tribunes and ^diles, who were chosen at 
the Comitia of Tribes, were the only officers of state for the ensu- 
ing year. 

§ 14. This state of things (as the Roman annalists say) lasted 
for five years,* Licinius and Sextius being re-elected to the Tri- 
bunate every year. But in the fifth year, when the people of Tus- 
culum, old allies of Rome, applied for aid against the Latins, the 
Tribunes permitted Consular Tribunes to be elected to lead the 
army, and among them was M. Fabius Ambustus, the father-in- 
law and friend of Licinius. The latter, far from relaxing his 
claims, now proposed a fourth bill, providing that, instead of two 
keepers of the Sibylline books (duumviri), both Patricians, there 
should be ten (decemviri), to be chosen alike from both Orders ; — 
so scornfully did he treat the pretensions of the Patricians to be 
sole ministers of religion. 

The latter felt that the ground was slipping from under them, 
and that the popular cause was daily gaining strength. In vain 
did the Senate order a Dictator to be named for the purpose of 
settling the inatter in their favour. The great Camillus assumed 
the office for the fourth time, but resigned ; and P. Manlius Capi- 
tolinus, who was named presently after, eff"ected nothing. He 
seems, indeed, to have been friendly to the Plebeians, if we may 
judge from the fact that he chose P. Licinius Calvus, a Plebeian, 
to be his Master of Horse. 

§ 15. Once more, as when the Patricians were in opposition to 
the Tribunes Terentilius and Canuleius, so now did the more 
moderate party propose a compromise. The law respecting the 
keepers of the Sibylline books was allowed to pass, and it Avas 
suggested that the two former of the Licinian Rogations, the 
two social laws, might be conceded, if the Plebeians would not 
press the political law, and claim admission to the highest curule 
rank. But this the Tribunes refused. They could not, they saidj 
effectually remedy the social evils of their poor brethren unless 
they had access to the highest political power ; and they declared 
they would not allow the two first bills to become law unless the 
third was passed together with them. "If the people will not 
eat," said Licinius, " neither shall they drink." In vain did the 
Patricians endeavour to turn this declaration against them ; in 
vain did they represent the Tribunes as ambitious men, who 
cared not really for the wants of the poor in comparison of their 
own honour and dignity ; in vain did the mass of the Plebeians 

* In a highly organised state of society, it is impossible to conceive the sus- 
pension of the chief magistrates for so long a time. But after the burning of 
the city, with the population much diminished, and in the absence of foreign 
wars, the thing does not seem incredible. 



1 60 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book n. 

avow themselves ready to accept the compromise offered by the 
Patricians, The Tribunes set their faces like iron against the 
threats of the higher sort and the supplications of the lower. For 
another five years the grim conflict lasted, till at length their reso- 
lution prevailed, and in the year 367 b.c. all the three Licinian 
Rogations became law. 

This great triumph was achieved with little tumult (so far as we 
hear) and no bloodshed. Who can refuse his admiration to a peo- 
ple Avhich could carry through their most violent changes with 
such calmness and moderation ? 

§ 16. But the Patricians, worsted as they were, had not yet 
shot away all their arrows. At the first election after these laws 
Avere passed, L. Sextius was chosen the first Plebeian Consul. 
Now the Consuls, though elected at the Comitia of the Centuries, 
Avere invested with the imperium or sovereign power by a law 
of the Curies.* This laAV the Patricians, who alone composed the 
Curies, refused to grant ; and to support this refusal the Senate 
had ordered Camillus, who was now some eighty years old, to be 
named Dictator for the fifth time. The old soldier, always ready 
to fight at an advantage, perceived that nothing now was prac- 
ticable but an honourable capitulation. The Tribunes advised the 
people to submit to the Dictator, but declared that they would in- 
dict him at the close of his office ; and he, taking a calm view of 
the state of things, resolved to act as mediator.f 

§1*7. The matter was finally adjusted by a further compro- 
mise. The Plebeian Consul was invested with the imperium ; 
but the judicial power Avas now taken from the Consuls and put 
into the hands of a supreme Patrician Judge, called the Praetor 
of the City (Praetor ITrbanus), and Sp. Camillus, son of the; 
Dictator, was the first Praetor. A hundred men (centumviri) 
Avere named, to whom he might delegate all difficult cases not of 
a criminal nature. At the same time also another magistracy, 
the Curule ^dileship, was created, to be chosen from Patricians 
and Plebeians in alternate years, Avho shared the duties of the 
only Plebeian ^diles, and besides this, had to superintend the 
Great Games, for which they were allowed a certain sum from 
the treasury. At the same time a fourth day Avas added to these 
games, J in honour of the Plebeians. 

* liBX curiata de imperio. 

f Not, however, without another Secession, if we must take Ovid's words 
literally {Fast. i. 639) :— 

" Furius antiquum populi superator Etrusci 
Voverat et voti solverat ante fidem. 
Causa, quod a patribus sumtis secesserat armis 
Vulgus et ipsa suas Roma timebat opee." 

X Ludi Magni or Romani. 



Chap. XV. 



TEMPLE OF CONCORD. 



161 



§ 18. Thustlie Patricians lost one of the Consulships, but re- 
tained part of the consular functions under other titles. And 
when Camillus had thus eft'ected peace between the Orders, he 
vowed a temple to Concord ; but before he could dedicate it, the 
old hero died. The temple, however, was built according to his 
design ; its site, now one of the best known among those of an- 
cient Rome, can still be traced with great certainty at the North- 
western angle of the Forum, immediately under the Capitoline.* 
The building was restored with great magnificence by the Emperor 
Tiberius ; and it deserved to be so, for it commemorated one of 
the greatest events of Roman history, — the final union of the 
two Orders, from Avhich point we must date that splendid 
period on which Ave now enter. By this event Avas a single 
city enabled to conquer, first all Italy, and then all the civilised 
countries of the knoAvn world, that is, all the peoples bordering on 
the Mediterranean Sea. 

We pause here, though it was some years yet before the 
political equality of the Plebeians was fully recognised. But it 
will be convenient to reserve this transition period for the next 
Book, because it runs inextricably into the events there to be 
narrated. The present Book shall be closed with a chapter on 
the sources of Roman History down to the point which Ave have 
noAV reached. 

* See the Plan of the Forum, Chapt. iii. § 24. 




Reverse of As, with Ship's prov/. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

SOURCES OF EARLY ROMAN HISTORY. 

§ 1. Destruction of all public Kecords by the Gauls. § 2. Meagre character 
of these Eecords : early History of Kome embodied in Legends. § 3. 
Legends of the Patrician period Ml of falsehood. § 4. Due to banc^uet- 
minstrelsy and funeral eulogies. § 6. Plebeian ballads also rife. § 6. 
How this mass of Legends was made into History. § 1. Tradition and 
documents. § 8. Minstrelsy lingered on after Burning by Gauls, but super- 
seded by Annals. 

§ 1. When th'e Gauls departed and left Rome in ashes, it was not 
only the buildings of the city which perished. We are expressly 
told that all public Records shared in the general destruction, — 
the Fasti, or list of yearly magistrates with their triumphs, the 
Annales Pontificum and the Linen Rolls (libri lintei), which were 
annual registers or chronicles of events kept by the Pontiffs and 
Augurs.* 

This took place, we know, about the year 390 b.c. 

Now the first Roman annalists, Fabius Pictor, Cincius Alimen- 
tus, Cato the Censor, with the poets Na^vius and Ennius, flourished 
about a century and a half after this date. 

Whence, then, it is natural to ask, did these writers and their 
successors find materials for the History of Rome before the 
burning of the city ? What . is the authority for the events and 
actions Avbich are stated to have taken place before the year 
390 B.C.? 

§ 2. The answer to these questions may partly be found in our 
fifth chapter. The early history of Rome was preserved in old 
heroic legends, which lived in the memories of men, and were 
transmitted by word of mouth from one generation to another. 
The early history of all nations is, as we have said, the same ; 
and even if we had the Fasti and the Annals complete, we should 
still have to refer to those legendary tales for the substance and 
colour of the early history. The Fasti, indeed, if they were so 
utterly destroyed as Livy states, must have been preserved in 
memory with tolerable accuracy, for we have several lists of the 
early magistratesy> which only differ by a few omissions and trans- 
positions. The Annals and Linen Rolls, if we had copies of 
them, would present little else than dry bones without flesh, 

* Liv. vi. 1. 



Chap. XVI. SOURCES OF EARLY ROMAN HISTORY, 163 

mere names witli a few naked incidents attached, mucii like what 
we read in the famous Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. For narrative w*e 
should still have been dependent upon the Legends. We might 
know the exact time at which Coriolanus appeared at the head of 
the Volscian host, but the story would remain untouched. The 
Annals would give us nothing of the Legends of Romulus and 
Numa, of the Horatii and Curiatii, of Mucins Scsevola, Codes and 
Cloelia, of the twin horsemen of Lake Regillus, of the fatal suf- 
ferings of Lucretia and Virginia, of the Veientine soothsayer 
and the draining of the Alban lake, of the self-sacrifice of 
Curtius, of the deeds of Camillus, and the noble devotion of 
the aged senators who fell beneath the Gallic sword. All these 
are as much matter of legendary story as the lays of King Arthur 
and his knights, of Charlemagne and his Paladins, of the Cid and 
Bernardo, which we read in the ballad poetry of England, France, 
and Spain.* 

§ 3. We have already taken notice of the legendary character 
of the early history, and endeavoured very briefly to show how 
out of them might be extracted evidence of historical truth so far 
as regarded the condition of Rome under the kings. Under the 
patrician rule, of which we have now been speaking, the Legends 
tell us little, for they pass into positive romance. We have 
noticed that it was the glaring discrepancies and falsehoods per- 
vading the legends respecting Porsenna and Camillus that led 
Beaufort to attack the whole of early Roman history. These 
false statements are quite different in kind from the greater part 
of the legendary fictions of Greece or of regal Rome. There we 
discern no dishonesty of purpose, no intentional fraud ; here much 
of this baser coin is current. In the Legends of Porsenna and 
Camillus the dishonour of Rome and the triumphs of the in- 
vaders are studiously kept out of sight, and glorious deeds are 
attributed to heroes who are proved to have no claim to such 
honour. It remains to state the cause of this altered character 
in the Legends. 

§ 4. The cause seems to have been, chiefly, the predominant 
power of certain great Houses. The Valerii, the Fabii, the Furii, 
the Horatii, the Mucii, appropriated to themselves and their an- 
cestors deeds which were never performed ; and family bards or 
ministrels made it their vocation to pander to this idle and unreal 
love of honour. The occasion on which these poets were enabled 

* It is doubtful, indeed, whether the Annals even went so far back as the 
earlier of these legends. The fact of the year being naarked by fixing a nail 
confirms Livy's statement that writing was little known in those times: 
" Parvse et rarse per eadem tempera litterse . . . ; una cuatodia fidelis memoria 
rerum gestarum." — vl 1. 



164 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. BoOK II. 

to exalt the family of their patrons arose out of the custom 
common among all rude nations to enhance the pleasures of 
wine and wassail by music and heroic song. Of these practices 
we have direct and positive evidence. " Cato, in his Origines, 
tells us," says Cicero, "that it was an old custom at banquets 
for those who sate at table to sing to the flute the praiseworthy 
deeds of famous men."* But these lays had perished in Cicero's 
time. " Oh," he exclaims in another place, " Oh that we had 
left some of those old lays of which Cato speaks in his Origines !"f 
Valerius Maximus bears testimony to the same fact. J Varro adds 
that well-born boys used to sing these ballads to the company, || 
like Phemios in the Odyssey, or Cadwallader in the halls of the 
kings of Powys. We may wish with Cicero that Cato had pre- 
served some of these Reliques of early Latin poetry, and had thus 
done his country the same service that Percy and Scott have 
rendered to the minstrelsy of old England and of the Scottish 
border. We should then be able more clearly to distinguish 
between the poem and the chronicle, as they lie mixed in the 
pages of Livy. 

Besides this practice of banquet minstrelsy, it was a custom 
much honoured at Rome, on occasion of the funerals of persons 
of rank, to carry forth the images of their ancestors, when family 
bards rehearsed their laudatory songs, and family chroniclers poured 
forth panegyrics in praise* of the illustrious dead.^f] At such times 
truth is little regarded. The common saying, " de mortuis nil nisi 
bonuin," is easily extended to the families and ancestors of the 
departed. The stories of Horatius and of Mucins may be traced 
to the desire of the Horatii and Mucii of later times to connect 
themselves with the early history of Rome. If we had an Etrus- 
can account of the siege of Rome by Porsenna, we should proba- 
bly hear little of these famous names ; and if a Gallic bard had 
sung the lay of Brennus, the great Camillus would appear in a 
very different light. This may be illustrated by Percy's remarks 
on the battle of Otterburn. The version which he gives, " is re- 
lated," he says, " with the allowable partiality of an English poet ;" 
while " the Scottish writers have, with a partiality at least as allow- 
able, related it no less in their own favour." The version adopted 
by the ministrel varied according as he touched his harp in the 
halls of the Percy or the Douglas. 

* QuEestiones Tuscul. iv. 2. j Brutus, 19. 

X Book ii. 1, § 10. Il Varro ap. Nonium, s. v. Assa voce. 

"|[ Such songs and speeches were called ncenice, laudationes,^-" Absint inani 
funere nsenise," says Horace ; that is, "I am a poet, and shall not die: my 
funeral, therefore, will be an idle ceremony: funeral songs will be wasted 
upon me." — Od. ii. 20, 21. 



Chap. XVI. SOURCES OF EARLY ROMAN HISTORY. 165 

§ 5. It may be observed tbat some of the Legends, as those of 
Virginia, show a manifest leaning to the side of the Plebeians. No 
doubt the lower order had their minstrels as well as the higher, 
nor did the praises of the great Plebeian Houses remain unsung. 
So in our own country the Commons had their poets as well as 
the great feudal lords ; nor were the deeds of Percy and Douglas, 
of the Childe of EUe, or of Fair Rosamond, more famous than the 
" Gestes of Robin Hood and Little John," the feats of Adam Bell 
and Clym of the Clough, and of other heroes in whose names the 
people delighted. 

§ 6. There can be no doubt, then, that at the burning of Rome 
there was abundant store of these romantic lays or ballads, Avhich 
were constantly called for and constantly adapted to the require- 
ments of the hearers. Thus they lived, and thus they were pro- 
pagated, till they were reduced into more regular form by Nsevius 
and Ennius, and the prose chroniclers in the times before and after 
the great Hannibalic war, and at length were embalmed in the 
great work of Livy, who gave them, as he found them, in their 
true poetic form. But for him, perhaps, the mass of these legends 
might have been filtered off into rationalising narratives, like those 
of Piso.* Thus not only should we have lost the life of the Roman 
Annals, but we should have regarded them as so dry and uninterest- 
ing that they would have been studied no more than the early 
history of Scotland or Ireland ; and we should have altogether 
lost the spirit-stirring story of these early times. We may there- 
fore say, paradoxically, that it is to the fiction manifest in the 
legendary tales of Livy that we owe our knowledge of the reali- 
ties of early Roman History. 

§ v. Besides these lays, it cannot be doubted that there was a 
mass of traditional history which preserved incidents in the strug- 
gle of the two Orders. Some documents were certainly preserved, 
as the Laws of the Twelve Tables, and the Treaty with Carthage 
which Polybius saw.f There were also, no doubt, archives pre- 
served in Latin towns, from which careful inquirers might have 
gleaned information ; but searching examination of this kind was 
little the fashion among Roman annalists. 

§ 8. After the burning of the city the minstrels still continued 
to compose their romances. It is plain that the combats of 
Valerius Corvus and Manlius Torquatus with gigantic Gauls were 
borrowed from ballads in their honour ; but few or nohe appear 
in the pages of Livy after this date, and one reason for their some- 
what sudden disappearance is the fact that after this time the An- 
nals or Registers are preserved ; so that henceforth Chroniclers, 
with their dry narratives, superseded the ministrels. The meagre 
* See Chapt. v. § 6. f Chapt. vi. § 1. 



IQQ EOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book XL 

and unintelligible Annals of the years that follow the Gallic irrup- 
tion are a specimen of what would have remained to us, had all 
the Legendary History perished, and had the Annals been pre- 
served entire from the first ages of the Republic. 

The gradual decay of Roman minstrelsy may, like its positive 
qualities, be compared to our own. " As the old minstrels gra- 
dually wore out," says Percy, " a new race of ballad-writers suc- 
ceeded, an inferior race of minor poets, who wrote narrative songs 
merely for the press. Towards the end of Queen Elizabeth's 
reign the genuine old minstrelsy seems to have been extinct, and 
thenceforth the ballads that were produced were wholly of the 
latter kind." Such ballads are merely rhythmical versions of pass- 
ing events, which die when they have satisfied the immediate 
occasion for which they were produced. As poetry they are gen- 
erally worthless ; as historical narratives they are inferior to the 
more exact accounts of the prose writers who gradually supersede 
them. 




M. Curtius. 



BOOK III. 

ROME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. 

(B.C. 366—265.) 



CHAPTER XVII. 

SEQUEL OF THE LICINIAN LAWS. CIVIL HISTORY TO THE FIRST 
SAMNITE WAR. (b.c. 366 344.) 

§ 1 Difficulties of Social Reformation. § 2. Increased by pestilence : Gulf in 
Forum : Self-sacrifice of M. Curtius. § 3. Also by Gallic inroads. § 4. 
Yain attempts to limit rate of Interest. § 5. Evasion of Second Licinian 
Law. § 6. Attempts to set aside Third Licinian Law foiled : First Plebeian 
Dictator : First Plebeian Censor. § 1. Plebeian honours Umited to a few 
families. § 8. Subject of this Book. 

§ 1. Various causes were for some time interposed to prevent the 
due execution of the Licinian laws. Indeed the first two of these 
measures, which aimed at social improvements, may be said to 
have failed. Social abuses are always difficult to correct. The 
evils are, in these cases, of slow growth ; their roots strike deep ; 



168 EOME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book IIL 

they can only be abated by altering tlie habits and feelings of the 
people, which cannot be effected in the existing generation ; they 
will not give way at once to the will of a lawgiver, however good 
his judgment, however pure his motives, however just his objects. 
In most cases he must content himself with carrying his reform, 
and leaving it to work upon a future generation. But the com- 
mon difficulty of removing social evils was increased in Kome at 
this time by circumstances. 

§ 2. For two years a pestilence raged in the city, which swept 
away great numbers of citizens and paralysed the industry of 
all. The most illustrious of its victims was Camillus, who died 
even more gloriously than he had lived, while discharging the 
office of peacemaker. About the same time the region of the 
city was shaken by earthquakes ; the Tiber overflowed his bed 
and flooded the Great Circus, so that the games then going on 
were broken off. Not long after a vast gulf opened in the Forum, 
as if to say that the meeting-place of the Roman People was to 
be used no more. The seers being consulted, said that the gods 
forbade this gulf to close till that Avhich Rome held most valu- 
able were thrown into it. Then, when men were asking what 
this might be, a noble youth, named M. Curtius, said aloud that 
Rome's true riches were brave men, that nothing else so worthy 
could be devoted to the gods. Thus saying, he put on his 
armour, and, mounting his horse, leaped into the gulf; and 
straightway, says the legend, the earth closed and became solid 
as before ; and the place was called the Lacus Curtius for ever 
after.* 

§ 3. To these direct visitations of God, the pestilence and the 
earthquake, was added a still more terrible scourge in the continued 
inroads of the Gauls. It has been noticed above that in the years 
361 and 350 B.c.f hordes of these barbarians again burst into 
Latium and again ravaged all the Roman territory. 

§ 4. These combined causes so increased the distress of the 
poor that no one can wonder to hear of debts being multiplied 
every day. We read therefore without surprise that in the year 
35Y B.C., ten years after the passing of the Licinian laws, a bill 
was brought forward by Duillius and Ma?nius, Tribunes of the 
Plebs, to restore the rate of interest fixed by the XII. Tables,;]; 
which in the late troubles had fallen into neglect ; and five years 
later (in 352) the Consuls, P. Valerius and C. Marcius Rutilus, 

* According to an older legend it derived its name from the Sabine cham' 
pion Mettus Curtius (chapt. ii. § 9). Here is a notable example of the " double 
legend." The spot was called "the Lacus Curtius;" and to account for the 
name two legends arose, one recent, the otlier of remote antiquity. 

f Chapt. xiv. §§ 12 and 13. X Chapt. xi. § 4. 



i 



C'flfAP- STII. SEQUEL OF THE LICINIAN LAWS. 169 

brouglit forward a measure to assist tlie operation of the Licinian 
law of debt. Many persons had not been able to take advantage 
of tbislaw, because their whole property was invested in land or 
houses ; and owing to the general distress and the great scarcity 
of money, they could not sell this property but at a very heavy 
loss. The Consuls therefore appointed Five Commissioners 
[quinqueviri)^ with power to make estimates of all debts and of 
the property of the debtors. This done, the Commissioners ad- 
vanced money to discharge the debt, so far as it was covered by 
the property of the debtor. Thus a quantity of land came into 
possession of the state; and landed property in general must have 
become more valuable, while money was more freely circulated, 
and must have been more easy to procure at a fair rate of in- 
terest. The measure was wise and useful, but could only be 
partial in its effects. It could not help those debtors who had 
no property, or not enough property to pay their debts withal. 
Hence we find that in another five years (347 b.c.) the rate of 
interest was reduced to five per cent. ;* and some years afterwards 
it was tried to abolish interest altogether. But, laws to limit 
interest then, as ever since, proved ineffectual or even mischiev- 
ous. It is always easy to evade such laws ; and the only difference 
they make is, that needy borrowers have to resort to grasping and 
dishonest usurers, who charge higher interest than they would 
otherwise have done, in order to meet the increased risk. In 
short we find, as we should expect, that all these laws proved in- 
sufiicient, and in the year 342 b.c. recourse was had to a measure 
still more sweeping and violent than the Licinian law, which shall 
be spoken of in its proper place.f 

§ 5. There were, then, great difficulties in the way of a law for 
relieving debtors. These were increased, as has been seen, by 
circumstances, and we must now add the selfishness and dis- 
honesty of the rich Patricians and Plebeians, who held the bulk 
of the Public Land in their own hands. If these lands had been 
leased out on moderate terms to the poorer sort, no doubt they 
would have been able in great measure to avoid debt for the 
future. But the present holders contrived to evade the Licinian 
law in the following way. If a man held more than 500 jugera, 
he emancipated his son and made over a portion of the land 
nominally to him, or, if he had no son, to some other trusty per- 
son. With sorrow we hear of these practices, and with still 
greater sorrow we learn that in the year 354 b.c. C. Licinius 

* Tacit. Annal. vi. 16. Poenus semi-unciarium, i. e. J^ of the capital, being 4^ 
per cent for the old Roman year of 10 months, or five per cent, for the com- 
mon year. 

t Chapt. xviiL § 12. 

8 



170 ROME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book HL 

himself was indicted by the Curule ^dile, M. Popillius Leenas, for 
fraudulently making over 500 jugera to his son, while he held 
another 500 in his own name. Perhaps it was some suspicion of 
his true character that induced the people to elect L. Sextius, 
his kinsman, first plebeian consul, instead of Licinius himself. 
Thus this remedy for pauperism was set aside and neglected, till 
the Gracchi arose, and vainly endeavoured, after more than two 
centuries of abuse, to correct that which at first might have been 
prevented. 

Circumstances, therefore, combined with the dishonesty of 
men, thwarted the social amendments which the Licinian laws 
aimed at. 

§ 6. The law for equalising political power was more eflfective. 
For eleven years after the Licinian law one Consul was always a 
Plebeian, Then the Patricians made one last struggle to recover 
their exclusive privilege; and in the year 355 b.c. we have a 
Sulpicius and a Valerius as Consuls, both of them Patricians ; 
and in the course of the next dozen years we find the law violated 
in like manner no less than seven times. After that it is regu- 
larly observed, one Consul being Patrician and the other Plebeian, 
till at length in the year 172 b.c, when the patrician families had 
greatly decreased, both Consulships were opened to the Plebeians, 
and from that time forth the ofiices were held by men of either 
order without distinction. 

These violations of the law above mentioned were eff'ected by 
the power by which the Senate ordered the Patrician Consul to 
name a Dictator. At least in the space of twenty-five years after 
the Licinian laws, we have no less than fifteen Dictators. Now 
several of these were appointed for sudden emergencies of war, 
such as the Gallic invasions of 361 and 350. But often we find 
Dictators when there is no mention of foreign war. In the year 
360 we find that both the Consuls enjoyed a triumph, and not the 
Dictator. These and other reasons have led to the belief that 
these Dictators were appointed to hold the Consular Comitia, and 
brought the overbearing weight of their political power to secure 
the election of two Patrician Consuls. 

§ 7. But if this were the plan of the Patricians, it availed not. 
After the year 343 B.C. the law was regularly observed, by which 
one Consul Avas necessarily a Plebeian. The Plebeians also forced 
their way to other offices. C. Marcius Eutilus, the most distin- 
guished Plebeian of his time, who was four times elected Consul, 
was named Dictator in the year 356 B.C., no doubt by the Plebeian 
Consul Popillius Lsenas ; and five years later (351) we find the 
same Marcius elected to the Censorship. 

§ 8. Practically, therefore, the political reform of Licinius and 



Chap. XVII. SEQUEL OF THE LICINIAN LAWS. I7l 

Sextius had been effectual so far as the admission of Plebeians 
to the highest offices of state was concerned. It must be re- 
marked, however, that these privileges, though no longer en- 
grossed by Patricians, seem to have been open only to a few 
wealthy plebeian families. C. Marcius Eutilus, as we have just 
remarked, held the Consulship four times in sixteen years (SSY- 
3-42). M. Popillius Lsenas and C. Pcetelius Libo enjoyed a similar 
monopoly of honours. 

§ 9. As the exclusive privileges of the Patricians thus gradually 
and quietly gave way, instead of being maintained (as in modern 
France) till swept away by the violent tide of revolution, so did 
the power of the Senate rise. It was by the wisdom or policy 
of this famous assembly that the City of Eome became mistress 
of Italy and of the World ; but a more convenient place for ex- 
amining its altered constitution will occur hereafter. At present 
we proceed with our proper task. Hitherto the contest has been 
internal, of citizen against citizen, in order to gain an equality 
of rights. Henceforth, for two hundred years^ we shall have to 
relate contests with foreign people, and the subject of this Book 
is to give an account of the conquest of Italy, for which the 
Roman Senate and People, now at length politically united, were 
prepared. 



-.2^fV■^C5^^^ v^/^^? 




Etruscan "Walling. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



WARS FROM THE BURNING OF ROME TO THE FIRST SAMNITE WAR. 
(B.C. 389—344.) 

§ 1. Eising of Volscians, -^quians, and Etruscans. Victorious Dictatorship 
of Camillug. § 2. Six new Tribes added, four from the Etruscan, two from 
the Volscian territory. § 3. The Latin League no longer in existence ; 
wars with several Latin Cities. § 4. Fresh irruption of the Gauls, favoured 
by Hernicans and Tiburtines. § 5. Eenewal of Latin League. § 6. "War 
with the Tarquinians, followed by a peace for 40 years. § 7. Third inroad 
of Gauls. Second Treaty with Carthage. Keflections. 

§ 1. The annals for several years after the burning of the city 
by the Gauls, are, especially in regard to foreign wars, extremely 
vague and meagre. We have lost the poetic Legends without 
finding anything like historic exactness in their stead. 

There can be no doubt that at first Rome had to struggle for 
very existence. Before the city was so far restored as to be 
habitable, it was announced that the -^quians and Volscians 
were in arms. The ^quians seem to have shared in the general, 
disaster caused by the Gallic inroad : henceforth at least the 
part they play is insignificant. But the Volscians boldly advanced 
to Lanuvium, and once more encamped at the foot of the Alban 



Chap. XVIIL TRIUMPH OP CAMILLUS. lYS 

Hills. The city Avas in great alarm ; and the Consular Tribunes 
being deemed unequal to the exigency, Camillus was named 
Dictator for the second time. He defeated them with great loss, 
and pursued them into their own territory. He then marched 
rapidly to Boise, to which place the JEquians had advanced, and 
gained another victory. 

But in the moment of triumph news came that Etruria was 
in arms. The storm of the Gallic invasion seems to have been 
averted from Etruria to Rome, and by a brave effort it now seemed 
possible to recover the territory which the Romans had for the 
second time appropriated. The people of Fidense and Ficulea 
are mentioned as appearing in arms. A force was sent against 
them ; but so completely was it routed on the Nones of July, 
that this day was noted in the Kalendar as the Poplifuga. Siege 
was then laid to Sutrium by the victors, and it fell. But the 
prompt Dictator, on the first alarm, marched his troops straight 
from Boise to the point of danger ; and on the very day on which 
Sutrium had yielded to the foe, it was again taken by the Roman 
General. Such is the obscure account preserved of this year's 
danger. Camillus again appears as the Saviour of Rome. He 
enjoyed a threefold triumph over the Volscians, the ^quians, and 
the Etrurians. 

§ 2. It was two years after, that the Etruscan territory, now 
effectually conquered, was formed into four Tribes, as has been 
mentioned before.* By the addition of these new Tribes, the first 
that had been added since this very territory had been wrested 
from Rome by Porsenna, the whole number was raised to twenty- 
five. The late assault of the Etruscans, perhaps, suggested the 
wisdom of making the free inhabitants of this district citizens 
of Rome. Men who had lately been subject to the oppressive 
government of a civic oligarchy, being now mingled with Roman 
Plebeians who had received allotments in the district, and seeing 
the comparative freedom of all Roman Burgesses, were sure in 
future to fight for Rome rather than join in an insurrection 
against her. Here was the beginning of that sagacious policy, 
which for a time led political enfranchisement hand in hand 
with conquest. Thirty years later (358 B.C.) the Senate pursued 
the same course with respect to the Pontine district and other 
lowlands, which had been recovered from the grasp of the 
Volscians. A settlement of poor Plebeians which was at- 
tempted in 387 B.C., failed : the emigrants were cut off by the 
Volscian hills-men. But the territory being now formed into 

* Chapt. XV. § 6. The names of these four tribes were the Stellatine, Tro- 
mentiue, Sabatine, Aniene. Liv. vi. 5. 



174 ROME CONQUEROR OF ITALY, Book IID 

two Tribes, so as to make the whole number twenty-seven, the 
inhabitants had themselves an interest in repressing predatory- 
inroads.* 

Yet the assaults of the Volscians continued. In 386 b.c, Ca- 
millus being Consular Tribune for the fourth time, reconquered 
Antium, which must have fallen into the hands of the Volscians 
again after the Gallic invasion. Colonies were sent to Sati'icum 
and Setia in Southern Latium, to Nepete in Etruria. Then came 
the struggle for the Licinian laws; and during this period the 
annals are altogether silent on the subject of wars. 

§ 3. But before the promulgation of the Licinian laws, there 
were threatenings of greater danger than was to be feared either 
from Etruscans or Volscians. The Latins and Hernicans, who 
since the time of Sp. Cassius had been bound in close alliance 
with Eome, and had fought by her side in all her border wars, 
no longer appeared in this position. The inroad of the Gauls 
had broken up the League. Eome had then been reduced to 
ashes, and was left in miserable weakness. Many of the thirty 
Latin cities, the names of which occur in the League of Cassius, 
were so utterly destroyed that the antiquary in vain seeks for 
their site in the desolation of the Campagna. But the two 
important cities of Tibur and Prajneste (Tivoli and Palestrina,) 
perched on steep-scarped rocks, defied the rude arts of the 
invader, and had gained strength by the ruin of their neigh-r 
hours. Prseneste seems to have seized the district of Algidus 
and the other lands from which the vEquians had been expelled. 
Both Prseneste and Tibur appear as separate and independent 
communities, standing apart from the rest of Latium and from 
Home. It was believed that the Prsenestines encouraged the 
Volscians in their inroads, and in 382 b.c. war was declared 
against them. Some of the Latin cities joined Prseneste, as 
Lanuvium and Velitrae; others sought protection against her 
from Rome, as Tusculum, Gabii, Lavici. In this war all is 
obscure. In the course of it even the Tusculans deserted 
Rome. But after a struggle of five years, the Dictator T. Quinc- 
tius took nine insurgent cities, Velitrae amongst the number, 
and blockaded Prseneste itself, which also capitulated on terms 
of which we are not informed. Soon after Tusculum also 
was recovered ; and for the present all fear of the Latins sub- 
sided. 

§ 4. But a few years after the Temple of Concord had been 
erected by old Camillus, fresh alarms arose. The Hernicans 
gave signs of disquietude. War was declared against them in 

* The Pontine and Publilian. Liv. vii. 15. 



CuAP. XVIII. WAR WITH THE TARQUINIANS. 1Y5 

3G2 B.C. Next year came the second inroad of the Gauls, and it 
was observed Avith consternation that this terrible foe occupied the 
valley of the Anio, and was not molested either by the Latins of 
Tibur or by the Hernicans. In the year 360 B.C. the Fasti record 
a triumph of the Consul Fabius over this last-named people, and 
another of his colleague Poetelius over the men of Tibur and the 
Gauls* — an ominous conjunction. 

§ 5. But this new inroad of the barbarians, which threatened 
Eome with a second ruin, really proved a blessing ; for the re- 
maining Latin cities, which in the late conflict had stood aloof, 
terrified by the presence of the Gauls, and seeing safety only in 
union, now renewed their league with Rome, and the Hernicans 
soon after followed their example. The glory of concluding this 
second league belongs to C. Plautius, the plebeian Consul of the 
year 358 b.c. The Gauls now quitted Latium, we know not how 
or why. Of all the Latin cities, Privernum and Tibur now alone 
remained out of the alliance ; but in the next five years both were 
compelled to yield. (357, 354 B.C.) 

§ 6. While these dangers were successfully averted on the 
north-eastern frontier, war had been declared against Rome by the 
powerful Etruscan city of Tarquinii, which lies beyond the Cimi- 
nian Hills. This was in the very year in which the new League 
was formed with the Latins and Hernicans. But for this, it is hard 
to imagine that Rome, exhausted as she was, could have resisted 
the united assaults of Gauls, Volscians, Latins, Hernicans, and 
Etruscans. As it was, she found it hard to repel the Tarquinians. 
The people made a sudden descent from the hills, defeated the 
Consul C. Fabius, and sacrificed three hundred and seven Roman 
prisoners to their gods (b.c. 358). Two years later they were 
joined by the Faliscans. Bearing torches in their hands, and 
having their hair Avreathed into snake-like tresses, they attacked 
the Romans with savage cries, and drove them before them. 
They overran the district lately formed into four new Tribes, 
and threatened Rome itself. Then M. Popillius Lsenas, the ple- 
beian Consul, being ordered by the Senate to name a Dictator, 
named another Plebeian, C. Marcius Rutilus, the first of his 
order (as we have said) who was advanced to this high oflSce ; 
and his conduct justified the appointment. The enemy was de- 
feated. The Senate refused a triumph to the Plebeian ; but the 
People in their Tribes voted that he should enjoy the well-earned 
honour. 

For a moment the people of Caere, the old allies of the Roman 
people, who had given shelter to their sacred things, their 

* "C. Poetelius C. F. Q. N. Libo Visolus Cos. de Galleis et Tiburtibus." 



1*76 EOME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book III 

women and children, in the panic of the Gallic invasion, joined 
the war ; but almost immediately after sued for peace. The 
Romans, however, remembered this defection, as we shall have to 
mention in a future page.* The Tarquinians were again defeated 
in a great battle. Three hundred and fifty-eight prisoners were 
scourged and beheaded in the Forum to retaliate for former bar- 
barity. In the year 351 b.c. a peace of forty years was concluded, 
after a struggle of eight years' duration. 

§ v. It was in the very next year after the conclusion of this 
war that the third inroad of the Gauls took place, of which we 
have above spoken, when L. Camillus, grandson of the old Dic- 
tator, rivalled the glory of his progenitor, and L. Valerius gained 
his name of Corvus. Thus remarkably was Rome carried through 
the dangers of intestine strife and surrounding wars. When she 
was at strife within, her enemies were quiet. Before each new 
assault commenced a former foe had retired from the field, and. 
Rome rose stronger from every fall. She had now recovered all 
the Latin coast-land from the Tiber to Circeii ; and her increasing 
importance is shown by a renewed treaty with the great commer- 
cial city of Carthage.f But a more formidable enemy was now to 
be encountered than had as yet challenged Rome to conflict ; and 
a larger area opened to her ambition. In the course of a very few 
years after the last event of which we have spoken the First Sam- 
nite War began. 

* Chapt. xxvii. § 12 (1). f LLv. vii. 21, Oros. iii. 1. 



J 




Coin -witti Samnite Bull goring the Koman Wolf, struck in the Social War. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



FIRST SAMNITE WAR. (b.C. 343 341.) 

§. 1. Origin and geographical position of the Sanmites. § 2. Little unity 
between them and kindred tribes. § 3. Sanmites a pastoral people. § 4. 
They spread from their mountains over various parts of the coast. Cam- 
pania. Their Colonists become then* enemies. § 5. Causes of the "War. 
§ 6. Fhst year of the "War : battle of Mount G-aurus gained by Valerius 
Corvus. Other victories. § T. Peace concluded next year. Reasons. 
§ 8. First Reason; Mutiny of Roman Legions wintering at Campania. 
They advance to BovUlse, and are joined by Plebeians from the City. § 9. 
Difference between this and former Secessions. It is put down by Valerius. 
§ 10. Laws for improving the condition of soldiers. § 11. Genucian Laws. 
Laws for relieving debtors: remarks. § 12. Second Reason deferred to 
next Chapter. 

§ 1. We must now carry our eyes beyond the district described 
in our sixth. Chapter, and penetrate into Campania and the val- 
leys of the Apennines, of which, as yet, our History has taken no 
count. 

The Sabines are a people connected with the earliest legends 
of Rome. But the Sabines of Cures and the lower country 
between the Anio and the Tiber are those who have hitherto 
engaged our attention. It is in the highlands of Reate and Ami- 
ternum that we must search for the cradle of the race. The 
valleys of this high district aflford but scanty subsistence ; and 
the hardy mountaineers ever and anon cast off swarms of emi- 
grants, who sought other homes, and made good their claim 
by arms. It was a custom of the Sabellian race, when famine 
threatened and the population became too dense, to devote the 
whole prodace of one spring-time, by a solemn vow, to the gods.* 
Among other produce, the youth born in that year were included: 
* This was called a Yer sacrum. 



178 EOME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. 

they were dedicated to the god Mamers (Mars), and went forth, 
to seek their fortunes abroad. On one such occasion the emi- 
grants, pressing southward along the highland valleys, occupied 
the broad mountainous district which lies northward of Cam- 
pania. Such is the story which the Samnites told of their own 
origin.* The Picenians and Frentanians, on the north coast, 
with the four allied Cantoris of the Yestinians, Marrucinians, 
Pelignians, and Marsians, who were interposed between the Sam- 
nites and their ancestral Sabines, claimed kin with both nations. 
The Samnites themselves also formed four Cantons — the Caro- 
cenians, Pentrians, Caudinians, and Hirpinians. Of these Can- 
tons, the first and last are little heard of. The Pentrians were 
far the most considerable : they occupied the rugged mountain 
district between the upper valleys of the Vulturnus and the 
Calor. Here a great mass of mountains, now known by the name 
of Mount Matese, projects boldly from the central chain, rising 
to the height of more than 6000 feet; and its steep defiles ofter 
defences of great natural strength against an invader. But the 
remains of massive polygonal masonry, which are still seen on 
the rocky heights occupied by their towns of -^sernia and Bovi- 
anum (Isernia and Bojano), show that the Samnites trusted to 
military art as well as to natural strength of country. Below 
Mount Matese, in the valley of the Calor, lay the Cantons of the 
Caudinians, whose town of Beneventum (anciently called Male- 
ventum, or Maliessa) also off'ered a position made strong by art. 
It is within these limits, from isernia to Beneventum, that 
the scenes of some of the chief campaigns of the Samnite wars 
were laid. 

§ 2. It must be remarked that but little connexion seems to 
have been maintained between the Samnite Cantons and their 
Sabellian kinsmen to the north. If the Sabines of the Upper 
Apennines, if Marsian, and Pelignian, and other Cantons which lie 
between the Sabines and the Samnites, had combined, nay, if all 
the Samnite cantons had been closely united, the issue of the wars 
which were waged with Rome might have been diff"erent. But 
the brunt of conflict fell chiefly on the Pentrians and Caudinians ; 
and it was not till their strength was well nigh exhausted that the 
other Sabellian tribes came forward to oppose the growing power 
of Rome. 

§ 3. From the nature of their country, the Samnites were for 
the most part a pastoral people. Their mountains break into 
numberless valleys, sloping both to the north and south, well 
watered, and fresh even in the summer heats. Into these valleys, 

* Strabo, who gives a similar account of the origin of the Picenians. 



Chap. XIX. FIRST SAMNITE WAR. 179 

as is still the practice of tlie country, tlie flocks were driven from 
the lower lands, ascending higher and higher as the heats in- 
creased, and descending towards the plain in the same gradual 
way as autumn inclined towards winter. 

§ 4. But the Samnites Avere not contented with these narrow 
mountain-homes. As they had themselves been sent forth from 
a central hive, so in time they cast forth new swarms of emigrants. 
In early times a Samnite tribe, under the name of Frentanians, 
had taken possession of the coast lands between the Marrucinian 
canton and Apulia. They also constantly pushed forward bands 
of adventurous settlers down the Vulturnus and Calor into the 
rich plain that lay temptingly beneath their mountains, and to 
which they gave the name of Campania, or the champagne-land, 
in opposition to the narrow vales and rugged hills of their native 
country. In earlier times this fair plain had attracted Etruscan 
conquerors ; and its chief city, anciently called Yulturnum, is 
said from them to have received the lasting name of Capua.* 
But in about the year 423 B.C., nearly a century before the time 
of which we are presently to speak, a band of Samnites had 
seized this famous city, and had become its lords,f the ancient 
Oscan inhabitants being reduced to the condition of clients. 
Soon after, the great Greek city of Cuma, which then gave name 
to the Bay of Naples, had been conquered by the new lords 
of Capua ;J and from this time forth, under the name of Cam- 
panians, they became the dominant power of the country. In 
course of time, however, the Samnites of Capua, or the Cam- 
panians, lost their own language and usages, and adopted those 
of the Oscan people, who had become their subjects. Hence it 
is that we shall find the Campanian Samnites at war with the 
old Samnites of the mountains, just as the Roman Sabines lost 
all national sympathy with the old Sabines of Cures, and as in 
England the Anglo-Normans became the national enemies of the 
French. 

It may be added that the Lucanians and Apulians, who 
stretched across the breadth of Italy below Campania, were 
formed by a mixture of Samnite invaders with the ancient popu- 
lation, themselves (as we have seen above) a compound of Oscan 
and Pelasgian races ; || while the Bruttians, who occupied the 

* From the Etruscan cMef Capys. It must be remarked, however, that 
Capvxi and Campania seem to be etymologically akin, and are probably both 
of Samnile origin. 

f Liv. iv. 37. 

:j: Liv. iv. 44, who places the conquest of Cumaj in the year 420 e.g. Dio- 
dorus, xii. 76, places it eight years earlier. 

I Introduction, Sect. II. § 8. 



180 ROME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book III. 

mountainous district south of the Gulf of Tarentum, were a similar 
offcast from the Lucanians. But these half-Sabellian tribes, like 
the old races from whom the Samnites came, lent very uncertain 
aid to their kinsmen in the struggle with Rome. The sons were 
not more alive to their own interest in joining the Samnites 
against the new conquerors than the fathers. 

§ 5. These prefatory remarks will prepare us for the great 
conflict which followed, and which, in fact, determined the 
sovereignty of Italy to be the right of the Roman, and not of the 
Samnite people. The first war arose out of a quarrel such as we 
have just alluded to between the Campanians and the old Sam- 
nites of the Matese. In the year 354 e.g., a league had been 
concluded with the Romans and the Samnites. Since that time, 
Samnite adventurers had been pressing upon the Oscan nations 
in the upper valley of the Liris, and had even taken the Volscian 
cities of Sora and Fregellse, while the Romans, combined with 
the Latins again since the year 358 B.C., were forcing back the 
Volscians from the west. In 343 b.c, the Samnites had pursued 
their encroachments so far as to assail Teanum, the chief city of 
the Sidicines, probably an Oscan tribe, who occupied the lower 
hills in the north of Campania. The Sidicines demanded the aid 
of the Burgesses of Capua against their assailants ; and the Cam- 
panians, venturing to give this aid, drew upon their own heads 
the wrath of the mountaineers. The Samnites took possession 
of Mount Tifata, a bare hill which overhangs Capua on the north, 
and from their camp there plundered at will the rich plain 
below. Unable to meet the enemy in the field, the degenerate 
Campanians entreated the assistance of the Roman and Latin 
League. 

There was some difiiculty in listening to this application ; for 
the treaty of peace, which had been concluded eleven years 
before, still subsisted, and no aggression against Rome or her 
allies was chargeable upon the Samnites. But it is probable that 
their aggressions in the valleys of the Liris and Vulturnus had 
alarmed the Senate ; and all scruples were removed when the 
Campanians offered to surrender their city absolutely, so that 
in, defending them Rome would be defending her own subjects. 
This quibbling bargain was struck, and war was declared against 
the Samnites. 

§ 6. The Consuls of the year were both Patricians — An. Corne- 
lius Cossus, and M. Valerius Corvus, whose single combat with the 
Gaul has been mentioned more than once. Apart from legendary 
tales, it is evident that Valerius was the most considerable man 
at Rome, now that Camillus was no more. He was now in 
his third Consulship, and thrice in future years he held the same 



Chap. XIX. FIRST SAMNITE WAR. 181 

high office. To extreme old age lie continued in the service of 
the state, and his last Consulships were employed in assisting to 
remove the last traces of disunion between the Orders. If the 
Licinian Law was to be broken, it could not be broken in favour 
of a worthier than M. Valerius. 

Each Consul led two legions separately into the field, with an 
equal number of Latin Allies. The force under the command of 
Valerius was destined to drive the Samnites out of Campania, 
while Cossus was to invade the Pentrian valleys. But the 
details of the campaign are quite unintelligible. Valerius gained 
a great victory over the Samnites on Mount Gaurus, which lies 
near Baiaj on the sea-coast. How it was that he was thus 
driven into this corner of the land we know not. No sooner 
was the battle of Mount Gaurus won, than news reached Vale- 
rius that his colleague Cossus had become entangled in a Sam- 
nite defile, and was shut in by the enemy on all sides. From 
this danger he was relieved by the valour and conduct of a 
legionary tribune, P. Decius Mus, the first-named of an illus- 
trious plebeian family. He seized an eminence, which com- 
manded the pass, and the Consul was enabled to escape from his 
danger. Then, say the Roman annals, Cossus attacked the Sam- 
nites and defeated them. It is added that Valerius joined him 
directly after, and the united forces overthrew the enemy in a 
third great battle. 

§ 7. An army remained in Campania during the winter, lest 
the Samnites should descend from their mountains suddenly. 
But in the next spring, instead of continuing the war, the 
Eomans concluded a treaty of alliance with the enemy, by which 
the Sidicines and Campanians were left entirely at their mercy. 
The causes of this unexpected change of policy were twofold ; 
first, a renewal of discord between the two Orders of the Roman 
People ; secondly, the uneasy feeling which showed itself between 
the Romans and their Latin Allies. 

§ 8. It has been shown above that the pressure of the laws of 
debt continued, and that there was a systematic attempt to 
evade the Licinian Law in the election of Consuls.* The dis- 
content thus caused, long smouldering, broke out into flame 
among the legionaries who were wintering in Campania. They 
compared that rich and beautiful country with the sullen gloom 
of the Roman territory, and the luxurious life of the Campanian 
people with their own rude and sparing habits : and they formed 
(as we are told) a design to imitate the old Samnites in making 
themselves lords of this happy land. When C. Marcius, the 
new Consul, came to the army in the year 342 b.c, he found tbd 
* Chapt. xvii. 



182 ROME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book III, 

men more ready to mutiny than to take the field. An attempt 
was made to check this spirit by drafting ofF the most unruly, 
and sending them home under various pretences. But as these 
men passed Lautulse, a place near Terracina, which commanded 
the road over the Volscian Hills, they found the cohort that 
had been posted to defend this pass ready to mutiny, and 
those who were on their way home agreed to join them. The 
insurgents, being joined by many others from the army, forced 
an old Patrician of the Quinctian house, whom they found dwell- 
ing at his country house, to be their leader ; and then advancing, 
encamped at Bovillse, in front of the Alban Hills. Upon this, 
the disaffected within the city also rose ; and putting another 
Patrician, named Manlius, at their head, joined the mutineers in 
their camp. 

§ 9. Here, then, was another of those Secessions of which we 
have already heard so much. But now, be it observed, the 
secession was not of the whole Plebeian Order, but only of the 
poorer sort, who felt oppressed by debt. Against these were 
arrayed not only the Patricians and their Clients, but also all the 
wealthier Plebeians, indeed, all who wished to maintain order in 
the state : and this great party showed their sincerity by pro- 
curing that M. Valerius Corvus, a man as famous for moderation 
as for bravery, should be appointed Dictator, to put an end to 
the sedition. He was able to collect an imposing force, with 
which he approached the camp of the insurgents. But Roman 
citizens were not yet so reckless of blood and so cold of heart as 
willingly to engage in civil war ; and when the two armies met, 
both were overpowered by their different feelings, the one by 
pity, the other by remorse. Arms were laid aside, and the sol- 
diers of each party embraced each other. 

No doubt this happy issue of the sedition was brought about 
by the good offices of the Dictator Valerius and Marcius the Ple- 
beian Consul. It was no doubt understood on both sides that 
the Patricians and rich Plebeians were ready to avert the evil by 
making large concessions, for these followed immediately. 

§ 10. The leaders of the army were allowed to propose and 
carry two Laws : first, that no citizen should be struck off the 
military roll, except for some crime ; secondly, that no one who 
had served as legionary tribune should thereafter be called on to 
act as centurion. The first law was evidently a boon to the 
debtors ; for persons serving in the army were protected from 
their creditors. The second is said to have arisen from the case 
of one Salonius, who had been vexatiously degraded to a sub- 
altern ra,nk by his patrician general ; and the Plebeians were the 
more willing to maintain the dignity of the Tribunes, since the 



Chap. XIX. FIRST SAMNITE WAR. 183 

election of six out of tlie twenty-four had recently been conceded 
to tlie legions themselves.* It was also proposed to reduce the 
pay of the equites, who at that time received three times as 
much as the foot soldiers. But on the interference of Valerius 
this proposal was withdrawn. 

§ 11. Such were the concessions made to the army. But at 
home greater changes followed. L. Genucius, Tribune of the 
Plebs, moved that henceforth both Consulships should be open 
to Plebeians ; and that no one should be re-elected to a curule 
magistracy. But it does not appear that these Genucian Laws took 
effect. It was long before both Consuls were Plebeians ; and it 
remained for many years a constant practice to re-elect the same 
persons to the Consulship within the stated period. But from 
this time forth we find no more violations of the Licinian Law. 

At the same time another Law was carried, by whom we know 
not, of much greater and more serious import ; for it enacted 
that all debts then existing should be cancelled, and that for the 
future no interest was to be taken for money lent. This second 
provision was simply absurd. It was the same thing as forbid- 
ding the loan of money at all ; no one will lend without some 
profit to cover the risk of loss. The former provision, cancelling 
all debts, was a more violent and dangerous form of the first 
Licinian Law. The Licinian LaAV struck certain sums off the 
debts, providing for the payment of the rest; this new Law 
abolished the debts altogether. What was said of the former 
law must be repeated here. Such laws, declaring general insol- 
vency, can only be justified by absolute necessity, and never can 
be enacted in a settled state of society. At Rome, possibly, they 
may have been necessary at this juncture, owing to the great 
cruelty of the old laws of debt. And that such laws were 
necessary may be inferred from the fact that Valerius suffered 
them to pass. Society was already so disorganised, that even 
such a law did not make it worse : nay, from this time forth 
we may date improvement ; for henceforth we hear no more of 
free Romans binding themselves as slaves to their creditors. 

§ 12. The second cause which, joined to these intestine com- 
motions, operated to promote the Samnite peace, was so im- 
portant, and was followed by results so considerable, that it must 
form the subject of a separate Chapter. 

* The regular number of Legions was four, two to each Consul, and there 
were six Tribunes to each Legion. At a later time, the people elected 18 out 
of the 24. 




Roman Soldiers. 



CHAPTER XX. 

GREAT LATIN WAR. SUBJECTION OF LATIUM. (b.C. 340 338.) 

§ 1. Eeview of the relations between Eome and Latium. § 2. Proposals of 
the Latin Cities for a union with Rome. § 3. Contemptuously rejected. 
§ 4. Manlius and Decius, Consuls, march into Campania: reasons. § 5. 
Eoman and Latin armies meet under Vesuvius : military systems of Rome : 
identical with that of Latins. § 6. Order of Manlius against single com- 
bats. § 1. Manlius condemns his son for disobeying. § 8. Battle of 
Vesuvius : self-sacrifice of Decius. § 9. Mournful triumph of Manlius. 
§ 10. Conclusion of the War. § 11. Large quantity of Pubhc Land gained 
by the "War : a portion distributed to the poor Plebeians. § 12. Publilian 
Laws. § 13. Principle on which the Latin Cities were treated. § 14. 
Public and Private Rights of Romans : how granted to foreigners. § 15. 
Previous privileges of Latins. § 16. New arrangements, of three kinds. 
§ IT. Settlement of the Campanian Cities. 

§ 1. The uneasy feeling caused by the disposition visible among 
the Latin Communities in league with Rome must have operated 
still more strongly than domestic troubles to incline Rome to 
peace ; for it must never be forgotten that when a Roman army 
took the field, half of it was composed of Latins. 

It has been said that after the burning of the city in 390 b.c. 
the Latins, as a body, stood aloof from Rome, while Prseneste and 
Tibur assumed a position of defiance. But in 356 b.c. the old 



Chap. XX. GREAT LATIN" "WAR. 185 

League had been renewed, and such as remained of the original 
Thirty Cities again joined their ranks to those of Rome in war- 
ring first against the Volscians and Etruscans, and finally against 
the Samnites. In the first year of the Samnite war we find two 
Roman Consuls in command ; in the second it is probable that 
the Latins would have claimed the chief command for their two 
Praetors. All we know is, that the Senate foresaw that the con- 
federacy of Latin Cities would claim equality with Rome ; and 
it was no doubt to strengthen themselves against such claim 
that now, in the year 341 B.C., they not only made peace with 
the Samnites, but concluded a separate league with that people. 
Thus the Latins alone continued in alliance with the Sidicines 
and other Oscan tribes of Campania, while the Romans united 
themselves with the Samnites, the mortal enemies of these same 
Oscan tribes, whose protectors they had lately been. We also 
hear of the Latins being at war with the Pelignians, which shows 
that other Sabellian tribes were taking part with the Samnites.* 

§ 2. Wlien Rome formed a separate League with the Samnites, 
she broke faith with the Latins. Her conduct made it clear that 
Latium could no longer remain the independent ally of Rome : 
the former must either submit entirely to her rival, or assert 
her independence in arms. There was, indeed, a third course 
possible, namely, for the two nations to form a united state 
under one central government, like England and Scotland since 
the Union : and this course the Latins proposed to try, although 
the spirit and temper of the Roman Senate made it very clear 
that the attempt must fail. 

However, it was made. In the year 340 b.c. the united cities 
of Latium sent their two Praetors (who were elected every year 
like the Consuls at Rome), together with the ten chiefs of their 
Senate, to propose terms of union. Rome and Latium were 
henceforth to form one state, Rome being allowed to remain as 
the seat of government ; but of the two Consuls, one was to be 
a Latin. The Senate was to be doubled by the admission of 300 
Latin members ; and no doubt (though this is not recorded) the 
Latin territory was to be divided, like the Roman, into Tribes, 
which would have equal votes with those of old Rome at the 
Comitia. 

The proposal was fair enough, and it may be thought that 
Rome might have accepted it without loss of honour ; for not 
very long after, most of the Latin cities formed the centres of 
new Tribes, and some of the most distinguished men of later 
times were of Latin origin. But the conduct of some Latin 

* Liv. vii. 38. 



186 ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. 

cities, as Tibur and Prseneste, had not been such as to warrant 
confidence, and it is probable that an Union now formed, when 
neither nation were willing quite to acknowledge the supremacy 
of the other, would not have been more lasting than that of 
Holland and Belgium in our own times. The Latins now pro- 
posed it only under fear of the Gauls and Samnites, and when 
that fear was removed, they would probably have broken it up. 

§ 3. It is not likely, however, that politic reasons of this kind 
influenced the Eomans in rejecting it. Rude nations generally 
act on impulse rather than on reason ; and the story shows that 
it was Roman pride which was touched, rather than Roman in- 
terests. 

The Senate, says the Legend, met to receive the Latin depu- 
ties in the temple of Capitoline Jupiter, at the head of the 
Sacer Clivus. When the deputies had spoken, the Fathers 
were filled with wrath, and their mind was uttered by T. Manlius 
Torquatus, patrician Consul elect, the same who had earned 
his surname in a single fight against a Gaul. " If," said he, " the 
Roman Senate were so dead of heart as to admit these proposals, 
I myself would come down to the Senate-house sword in hand 
and slay the first Latin who should presume to cross this holy 
threshold." Angry words followed, in the course of which L. 
Annius of Setia, one of the Latin Praetors, spoke lightly of the 
great god of the Capitol, beneath whose temple they were 
standing. Then, to avenge his majesty, burst forth lightning 
and thunder ; and the Latin, turning hastily to depart, fell head- 
long down the steps of the Sacred Ascent, and was killed.* 

§ 4. But when the Senate were receiving these deputies, they 
were already preparing for war. Their patrician Consul was, as 
has been mentioned, the famous champion T. Manlius, and his 
plebeian colleague was the no less famous P. Decius Mus, who 
had saved the army of the Consul Cossus in the Samnite war. 
These Consuls straightway assembled their legions, and boldly 
resolved to leave Rome under the protection of the Praetor, 
while they marched through the friendly passes of the Sabines, 
Marsians, and Pelignians into Samnimn, there to unite with a 
Samnite force and descend upon Capua. This bold stroke suc- 
ceeded. The Latin army marched hastily southward to protect 
their Oscan allies, and it was in the plains of Campania that the 
fate of Rome and Latium was to be decided. 

There could be little doubt which people were destined to 
prevail. The Latins and Romans might be well matched ; but, of 

* The Chroniclers, however, mention L. Annius as general of the Latins in 
the ensuing war, — another instance of the variety above noticed in these old 
legends. 



Chap. XX. GREAT LATIN WAR. 187 

their allies, tlie Oscaus were quite unequal to the mountaineers of 
Samnium. Moreover, even of the Latin cities three adhered to 
Rome, Laurentum, Ardea, and Lanuvium, and several were luke- 
warm in the cause. The Oscan cities of Fundi and Formise, 
which command the road between Rome and Capua, remained 
neutral ; and in Capua herself a protest against war with Rome 
was made by sixteen hundred Knights (as they are called), who 
were probably the heads of the old Samnite families, before men- 
tioned as the lords of Capua.* 

§ 5. When the two armies met under Mount Vesuvius, they 
lay opposed to one another, neither party choosing to begin the 
fray. It was almost like a civil war; Romans and Latins spoke 
the same language ; their armies had long fought side by side 
under common generals ; their arms, discipline, and tactics were 
the same. 

And here we will follow Livy in giving an account of the Ro- 
man army as at that time constituted.! 

In the old times the Roman army had been drawn up in close 
order like the Greek phalanx, so as to act by its weight. The 
front ranks were armed 'with the long pike or spear (Jiasta) and 
the large round shield (clijjeus, damg). Locking their shields to- 
gether, with their spear-points bristling in front, they formed a 
mass irresistible so long as it remained unbroken. This order of 
battle was carried to its greatest perfection by Philip of Macedon, 
and we shall have to speak further of it when we come to the 
Macedonian wars. 

The Romans, as is well known, changed their system, and made 
this heavy mass a living body. Their citizens were brave men 
fighting for their country, and were fit for something better than 
to be mere machines, unable to act separately. The soldiers of 
the republic were armed, not with the long pike, but with two 
heavy javelins, called pila, which they were taught to throw with 
great eff"ect, and a short strong sword, fit alike for striking and 
thrusting.J They exchanged the heavy round shield for a lighter 
one of oblong shape, (scutum), curved so as to defend the side as 
well as the front. Thus armed, they stood at a distance of a yard 
fron;i their right and left hand men, so as to allow free room 
for the use of their weapons. The men of each rear-rank stood, 
not directly behind their front-rank men, but so as to cover the 
space between two, like the knots in net-work (in quincuncem 
dispositi). Thus, when the front-rank men had discharged 

* Chapt. xix. § 3. 

f Liv. viii. 8. The account that follows is based on this passage with the 
commentary of Niebuhr. 

X The gladius Hispanus — see Liv. vii. 10. 



188 EOME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. BOOK III. 

tlieir pila, they fell back, and tlieir rear-rank stepped forward, 
so as to come in front and discharge their pila in turn. Mean- 
while the original front-rank was falling back to the rear, and each 
rear- rank was gradually coming up to be ready to take their turn 
in front. When all the pila were discharged, and the enemy 
thrown into confusion by this continued fire, the whole body 
advanced to close combat, and completed the work of defeat with 
their swords. 

Now in the times of Marius and Csesar, who conquered the 
Germans and Gauls with tactics of this kind, the whole legion was 
armed alike, being divided into ten cohorts, and each cohort into 
three maniples or six centuries, each century being commanded by 
a centurion. 

But at the time of which we now speak, this uniformity of 
system did not yet prevail. At this time the Legion consisted of 
three battalions of the line, each 1200 strong, and to these were 
attached a body of light troops, bowmen and slingers (called 
rorarii, because they sprinkled their missiles like dew), and also 
an unarmed body called accensi, because they were added to the 
rate-paying citizens (censi)* to serve as attendants, and perform all 
the duties of camp-followers. -Of the three main battalions the 
foremost was called Hastafi, because they were still armed with 
the long pike, like the old phalanx. Close behind these were the 
Principes, who were composed of the first in rank among the 
citizens, and were probably armed with the sword and pila. In 
rear of the principes were placed the standards of the whole army, 
so that these two front battalions were called Ante-signani. Be- 
hind the standards were ranged the third battalion, called Triarii, 
composed of the most experienced soldiers, destined to act as a 
reserve, and bring aid to any part of the front battalions which 
seemed to be in difficulty. The battle was begun by the rorarii, 
who covered the advance of the main body, and then dispersed on 
either flank. It is probable that the principes then advanced 
through the intervals of the maniples of the hastati, and having 
discharged their pila, fell back again through the same intervals : 
but the manner in which the soldiers, armed some with the pike 
and some with the sword and pila, acted together, must remain 
matter of doubt. 

To each Legion was attached a squadron (ala) of 300 horse ; 
but the horse-soldiers of Eome were always inefficient ; her chief 
dependence was on her infantry. 

§ 6. This system, at the time we speak of, was common both to 

* Those who paid no rates and taxes (the capiie censi) were not allowed to 
serve in the legions till the time of Marius, who first placed them on the 
military roll. 



Chap. XX. GEE AT LATIN WAR. 189 

Romans and Latins. The divisions of their army, their officers, 
their tactics were exactly alike. They had been used to fight side 
by side, and in each army there were many men and officers who 
were personally connected with those in the other. Under these 
circumstances the Roman commanders thought it important to 
break oft" all communication between the armies, and they issued a 
general order to this efi'ect. It was also strictly forbidden to en- 
gage in any partial skirmishes with the Latins, or to accept any 
challenge to single combat which they might make. All strength 
was to be reserved for the great battle which was to determine the 
fate of the two nations. 

§ 7. While the armies were thus lying over against each other, 
the Latin horsemen, conscious of superiority, used every endeavour 
to provoke the Romans to single combats. The latter, however, 
Avere checked by the orders of their generals, till young Manlius, 
son of the Consul, stung to the quick by the taunts of Geminus 
Metius, a Latin champion, accepted his challenge. The young 
Roman conquered, and returned to the camp to lay the spoils of 
the enemy at his father's feet. But the spirit of Brutus was not 
dead ; and the stern Consul, unmindful of his own feelings and the 
pleading voices of the whole army, condemned his son to death for 
disobedience to orders. Discipline was thus maintained, but at a 
heavy expense, and the men's hearts were heavy at this unnatural 
act. 

§ 8. In the night before the day on which the Consuls resolved 
to fight, each of them were visited by an ominous dream, by 
which it was revealed that whichever army first lost its general 
should prevail ; and they agreed that he whose division first 
gave ground should devote himself to the gods of the lower 
world. 

In the morning, when the auspices were taken, the liver of the 
victim offered on the part of Decius was defective, while that of 
Manlius was perfect, and the event confirmed the omen ; for Man- 
lius, who commanded the right division, held his ground, while the 
legions of Decius on the left gave way. 

Then Decius, mindful of his vow, sent for Valerius, the Chief 
Pontiff, to direct him how duly to devote himself. He put on his 
toga, the robe of peace, after the Gabine fashion, bringing the end 
or lappet under the right arm and throwing it over his head ; and 
then standing on a javelin, he pronounced the solemn form of 
words prescribed, by which he devoted the army of the enemy 
along with himself to the gods of death and to the grave. Then, 
still shrouded in his toga, he leaped upon his horse, and dashing 
into the enemy's ranks was slain. 

Both armies were well aware of the meaning of the act : it de- 



190 ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. 

pressed tlie spirits of the Latins as much as it raised those of the 
Romans. 

The skill of Manlius now finished the work of superstitious awe. 
He had armed his accensi, contrary to usual custom ; and as soon 
as his two front battalions were wearied, he brought them up in 
place of the triarii. The Latins, thinking they were triarii, 
brought up their own third battalions, who thus used up their 
weapons and their strength upon the Eoman accensi. Then Man- 
lius brought up his real triarii, fresh and unbroken, to gain an easy 
victory over the wearied enemy. They fled in irretrievable 
confusion. 

Such was the battle of Vesuvius, which decided the fate of 
Latium and of Campania. We know not what part the Campa- 
nians and Samnites took in it, but there is no doubt that 
they were engaged as allies on either side. The Latins en- 
deavoured to make a stand upon the Liris, but again suffered 
a defeat, and the surviving Consul led his victorious army to 
JEiome. 

' § 9. If the greatness of a Consul's honours were proportioned 
to the importance of his acts, the triumph of T. Manlius Torquatus 
ought to have been second to none ; for Capua, Cumse, Cales, and 
other towns in Campania were among the conquered ; and not 
only Latiura, but Campania and the intervening country of the 
Auruncans and Volscians, remained at the mercy of the conquer- 
ors. But the memory of his son was alive ; the younger men 
were too much struck with horror at the remorseless father to give 
glory to the victorious Consul, and a gloomy silence attended his 
progress along the Forum to the Capitol. From the stern exercise 
of his authority he is said to have derived his other surname of 
Imperiosus. 

§ 10. The war was kept up the next year by several Latin cities, 
which, however, were unable to keep an army in the field. Tibur, 
Prseneste, Aricia, Lavinium, Velitrse, and Antium were conquered 
successively by the Consuls Ti. JEmilius and Q. Publilius Philo, 
but Pedum still held out : in the third year, however (339 B.C.), 
this city also yielded, and the Latin war was ended. 

§ 11. The country that was left at the mercy of Rome by the 
issue of the Latin war was a large tract, comprehending Latium 
itself, the country of the Volscians and Auruncans from Anxur or 
Terracina to the mouth of the Liris, and the northern district of 
Campania nearly to the mouth of the Vulturnus. It is probable 
that in the lower part of Campania the Samnites remained para- 
mount : but Ronian Campania was the vine-growing part of the 
country, in which lay Mons Massicus and Cales, and the famous 
Ager Falernus, while northward, among the Ausonians, was tho 



Chap. XX. SUBJECTION OP LATIUM. 191 

Ager Csecubus and tlie Formian liills, whose wines were only 
second to those of Campania. 

It was a rich domain, and at the close of the first year of the war 
the Senate, sure of their prize, proceeded to appropriate part of the 
lands of these countries. The poorest Plebeians, lately relieved of 
the pressure of debt, now received portions not exceeding three 
jugera (nearly 2 acres) apiece.* The allotments were small, but 
with the help of pasturage on the public land, this was enough to 
enable industrious men to keep free from debt. 

§ 12. However, the smallness of these allotments seems to have 
again raised discontent ; and in the second year of the Latin war 
(340 B.C.) the Plebeian Consul, Q. Publilius Philo, being named 
Dictator by his patrician colleague for some purpose now unknown, 
proposed and carried three laws still further abridging the few re- 
maining privileges of the patrician Lords. 

The first Publilian law enacted that one of the Censors, as one 
of the Consuls, must be a Plebeian, which confirmed as a rule what 
had already been allowed ; for C. Marcius Rutilus had already 
held this office.f The second gave fuller sanction to the principle 
already established, that the Resolutions of the Plebeian Assembly 
should have the force of law.J The third provided that all laws 
passed at the Comitia of the Centuries or of the Tribes should re- 
ceive beforehand the sanction of the Curies ;|| so that this Patrician 
Assembly now lost all power of stopping or rejecting laws proposed 
in the Popular Assemblies. It is remarkable that these Publilian 
Laws were passed with very little open opposition on the part of 
the Patricians. 

§ 13. After the surrender of Pedum, in the third year of the 
war, the Senate proceeded to make such a settlement of the con- 
quered communities as might deliver Rome from all future fears of 
insurrection. The principle of policy was that which was steadily 
and insidiously pursued in all future dealings with conquered 
countries, namely, to divide the interests of the diff"erent communi- 
ties by bestowing privileges on some, and by reducing others to 
such a state of absolute subjection that they were never likely again 
to unite in arms. It should be added, however, that hopes were 

* Some received allotments on the public lands of Latium and the Volsci, 
and these portions only amounted to 2f jugera. But those who were settled 
on the Falernian lands had three. — Liv. viii. 11. 

\ See Chapt. xvii § 1. 

\ " Ut Plebisdta omnes Quirites ienerent," — which seems to have been 
merely a re-enactment of the Valerio-Horatian law menteoned in Ohapt. x. 
§ 22 (2). — See below, Chapt. xxv. § 2. 

II "Ut Legum, quas Comitiis Centuriatis ferrentur, ante initum suffragium 
Patres auctores fierent." — This was clearly a diminution of the power of the 
Comitia Curiata. 



192 ROME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. BOOK III. 

held out to those who were most severely punished that by obedi- 
ence and good service they might hereafter gain the privileges of 
the most highly favoured. 

§ 14. It will be necessary here to say a few words on the nature 
of the privileges which Eome was able to bestow upon her subjects 
or to withhold from them. 

All Burgesses of Rome, now that no political distinction re, 
mained between Patrician and Plebeian, enjoyed the same rights. 
These rights are commonly divided into two classes, the Private 
and the Public. The private rights of a Roman citizen were (1) 
the power of legal marriage with all families of citizens, (2) the 
power of making legal contracts of bargain and sale, so that he 
might hold land and houses by a good title in any part of the 
Roman territory, (3) the power of devising property by will, and 
of inheriting property, with other smaller privileges of which it is 
needless to speak here.* The Public Rights were (1) the power 
of voting in the great popular assemblies, the Comitia of the 
Centuries and of the tribes, in all matters of legislation, in the 
election of magistrates, in the trial of fellow-citizens, and (2) the 
power of being elected to all offices of State.f 

When foreign lands were incorporated with Rome, the free 
citizens residing in those lands became entitled to all these Rights, 
both Private and Public. But it was common for Rome to enter 
into relations with foreign communities on such conditions, that 
she granted a portion of those Rights to the citizens of those com- 
munities, and received for her own citizens corresponding rights in 
those communities. Thus the citizens of Capua might possess the 
Private Rights of a Roman Citizen at Rome, and reciprocally a 
Roman burgess might be able to exercise the same Rights at 
Capua. It is obvious that these concessions might be made in 
various degrees of completeness. All Private Rights might be 
granted, or only some ; or to the Private Rights might be added a 
power of obtaining even the Public Rights, that is, of becoming a 
burgess of Rome. 

§ 15. It is probable that by the League of Spurius Cassius, and 
by the League renewed by Plautius in 356 B.C., this equal relation 
was established between Rome and her subject communities 
on the one hand, and all the independent Latin communities on 
the other. Romans possessed the Private Rights of citizenship in 
all these communities, and Latins possessed the same. Rights 
at Rome. It is probable also that the citizens of each of the 
two parties to this League had some power of obtaining the 

* Jus Connubii, Jus Commercii, Jus Testamentifactionis et Scereditaiis, 
etc 

f Jus Suffragii, Jus Ronorum. 



Chap. XX. SUBJECTION OF LATIUM. I93 

Public Eights in the allied states. A Roman might become the 
burgess of one of the Latin communities, a Latin might become 
a burgess of Rome. In Campania also similar relations seem to 
have existed between Rome and the chief Campanian communi- 
ties before the great war of which we are speaking. 

§ 16. But now, at the end of the year 339 b.c, Latium, Cam- 
pania, and the intervening country, lay at the feet of Rome, and no 
such equality was thought of for the future. A complete division 
of interest was made, and all union between the cities was rendered 
difficult. 

(1.) Some Latin communities with their lands were at once 
added to the Roman territory, so that their citizens became citi- 
zens of Rome and voted in the Comitia. This complete incor- 
poration was conferred upon Lanuvium, Tusculum, Nomentum, 
and Velitrae. Part of these lands were added to Tribes already 
existing,* but the greater part was comprehended in two new 
Tribes, which were formed by the next Censors in 332 b.c, so 
that now the Roman Tribes amounted in number to twenty- 
nine.f It must be observed, however, that no reward was 
herein conferred upon Velitrse, which had been pertinacious in 
its resistance during the war ; for its walls were thrown down 
and its chief citizens banished beyond the Tiber, while its lands 
were divided among Plebeians of Rome. It was not, therefore, 
the Latins of Velitrse, but the new Roman settlers who became 
members of the Tribe in which the city stood ; but in the 
other three cities the Latin inhabitants henceforth became Ro- 
mans. It is probable that Aricia and Pedum were treated in the 
same manner as Velitrse. 

(2.) Tibur and Prseneste were deprived of a portion of their 
territory, which thus became part of the public domain of Rome ; 
otherwise they remained independent. Probably they were still 
too powerful to be treated without regard. Prseneste more than 
once again appeared in arms against Rome. 

(3.) The other Latin Communities were prohibited from enter- 
ing into any relations, private or public, one with another. The 
citizens of one town could not enter legal marriage with the 
family of another town, nor make a legal contract of bargain 
and sale with any but one of his own townsmen. This severe 
penal enactment shows that they were reduced into a state of 
absolute subjection to Rome, and the isolation which was its 
consequence effectually maintained that subjection. Many Latin 

* Tusculum was added to the old Papirian tribe. — Liv. viii. 37. 

f " Eodem anno census actus, novique cives censi : Tribus propter eos 
addite, Mtecia et Scaptia." — Liv. viii. 17. The last had been added more 
than 50 years before. — Chapt. xviii. § 2. 

9 



194 ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. 

Cities had been destroyed by the Gauls : others now began to 
dwindle away : so early began that chain of causes which has 
ended in the present desolation of the Campagna. In course of 
time their territory was nearly all incorporated with the Eoman 
Tribes, and Latin families derived from these towns furnished 
some of the most illustrious generals and statesmen of Rome. 
The Fulvii, the Curii, the Coruncanii were of Latin origin : 
Marius and Cicero, as is well known, derived their origin from 
the little Volscian town of Arpinum. 

§ 17. The Oscan communities between Latium and Campania, 
with the chief cities of Northern Campania, were admitted into 
alliance with Rome much on the same terms that had befoi*e 
subsisted between Rome and the communities of Latium. Capua 
especially appears in later history on terms as equal as ever had 
been enjoyed by Tusculum, or Tibur, or Prseneste. The chief 
men, whom Livy calls the Knights, were (as we have seen) pro- 
bably of Samnite origin, and had taken part with Rome in the 
late Latin war, while the mass of the Oscan population joined 
their countrymen against the Latins. It is likely that these men 
were now restored as a Patrician order in Capua, and that the 
privileges of equal alliance referred to them alone. Probably, 
also, in Cumse, Suessula, Formise, and Fundi, where similar pri- 
vileges were granted, similar political revolutions took place. A 
Patriciate was formed and put in possession of political privi- 
leges, while the mass of the people were left in the former-con- 
dition of the Plebeians at Rome. Thus the Patricians or govern- 
ing body in each city would be anxious to maintain alliance with 
Rome, because on that depended the maintenance of their own 
supremacy. 




CHAPTER XXI. 

EVENTS LEADING TO THE SECOND SAMNITE WAR. (337 326 B.C.) 

§ 1. Next twelve years without great events : measures of precaution against 
Samnites. § 2. Eevolt of Gales : Colony there. § 3. Alexander of MO' 
lossus engaged by Tarentines to make war with Lucanians : Treaty of 
Eomans with him. § 4. Colony sent to FregellEE. § 5. Generous treat- 
ment of Privemum : Thirty-one Tribes. § 6. Colony to Terracina. § 7. 
Dispute with Palsepohs, which calls in a Samnite garrison. § 8. PublUius 
Philo besieges Palsepolis : first Proconsul : destruction of Palaspolis. § 9. 
From these causes of quarrel, Second Samnite War breaks out. 

§ 1. The first war witli tlie Samnites, followed so closely by 
the great Latin War, must have exhausted the resources of 
Rome ; a time of peace and quiet was necessary to restore them. 
But it was impossible for two aggressive nations like the Romans 
and the Samnites to remain long in alliance. Almost every 
event which occurred in the next twelve years shows that war, 
though staved off for the present, must be renewed in no very 
long time. 

Of these events we will now take a short survey, noticing par- 
ticularly how well the Romans employed the interval to 
strengthen themselves on the Samnite frontier. 



196 ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. 

§ 2. It appears that the Sidicines, in the late settlement of 
Campania, had been left independent, as a sort of border country 
between the Eoman and the Samnite borders. This people, not 
satisfied with neutrality, drove the Auruncans of Cales into 
revolt ao-ainst Rome, and a short war followed. Cales was 
speedily reduced by Valerius Corvus, Consul in b.c. 335 ; and, 
to prevent all future trouble, was occupied by a Colony of 2500 
citizens (b.c. 334). These settlers became as it were the Patri- 
cians of the Colony, sharing the public domain amongst them ; 
while the old population was reduced to the position of Ple- 
beians ; and therefore it was for the interest of the colonists 
always to remain faithful to Rome. Thus one outpost was 
planted in the newly-conquered country, so placed as to defend it 
against the Samnites. 

§ 3. Three years after (b.c. 332) news came to Rome that 
Alexander, King of Molossus, had landed in Southern Italy with 
an army. This Alexander was uncle of Alexander the Great, 
being brother of his mother Olympias. He had been invited 
to cross the sea by the Tarentines, whose practice it was to hire 
foreign armies commanded by leaders of note, in order to defend 
them against their barbarous neighbours, the Lucanians. Alex- 
ander defeated these people near Paestum ; and the Senate forth- 
with sent to form an alliance with him, thinking he might be of 
service to them in any future war with the Samnites. This 
was dishonest ; for Rome was already in alliance with the Sam- 
nites, and the Samnites were at war with Alexander. Nor did it 
profit them ; for Alexander, who had come into Italy not so much 
to assist the Tarentines as to win a kingdom for himself, was slain 
not long after in a second battle at Pandosia, 

§ 4. Another event brought the two nations still nearer a 
direct collision. It will be remembered that the Samnites had 
conquered the Volscian country in the Upper Liris ; that they 
had been left in possession of their conquests at the settlement 
which followed the Great Latin War. From this frontier they 
seem to have gone on to attack other Volscian towns now under 
the protection of Rome ; for in the year 328 B.C. we find the 
Volscians of Fabrateria, near Fregellse, imploring the assistance 
of Rome. The appeal was listened to at once. The Senate 
warned the Samnites to abstain from further inroads ; and not 
content with this, they proceeded to occupy Fregellse with a strong 
body of Colonists. This second Colony on the Samnite frontier 
was destined to command the upper or inland road from Latium 
into Campania. 

§ 5. Two years before (330 B.C.) one of the newly-conquered 
Volscian cities had revolted against Rome. This was Privernum, 



Chap. XXL CAUSES OF SECOND SAMNITE WAR. 197 

and the revolt was countenanced by Fundi, and perhaps other 
Auruncan towns ; for Vitruvius Vaccus, a Avealthy citizen of 
Fundi, who had lately settled at Eome, appears as the leader of 
the Privernatians. The revolt was soon crushed : hut the Pri- 
vernatians, contrary to custom, were treated with indulgent 
favour by the Senate. Their deputies, being asked by the Con- 
sul, " What was due to such conduct as theirs ?" boldly re- 
plied by another question : — " What is due to brave men who 
have fought for freedom ?" " Well, but if Ave spare you," re- 
joined the Consul, " what are we to expect ?" " Peace," was the 
reply, " if you treat us well ; but if ill, a speedy return to war." 
Tlien the Senate voted that the people of Privernum should be 
admitted to be Roman citizens ; and not long after, they were 
included in two new Oscan Tribes, which, being added to the 
Roman territory, made the Tribes thirty-one in all.'* Probably 
this conduct was rather politic than magnanimous. It was 
evidently well calculated to make the Oscan nations satisfied 
with Roman sovereignty, and willing to take part with Rome 
rather than with the Samnites. 

§ 6. Shortly after this the Senate placed a Colony of 300 
Roman citizens in the strong city of Anxur, or Terracina. This 
Colony was of a different sort from those of Cales and Fregellse 
(as shall hereafter be explained). It was intended to command 
the lower or coast road from Latium into Campania, as FregellaB 
did the upper or inland. A Colony, planted in Antium at the 
close of the Latin war, had a similar effect. 

§ 7. In the year 327 b.c. began the dispute which was the 
immediate cause of the great Samnite War. Parthenope was 
an ancient Greek colony founded by the Chalcidians of Cuma 
on the northern part of the Bay of Naples. In after years an- 
other city sprung up a little to the south, whence the original 
Parthenope was called Palsepolis, or Old-town, while the New Town 
took the name of Neapolis. The latter preserves its name in 
the modern Naples ; the former has so utterly disappeared that 
its site is a matter of guess. These two cities (as has been 
stated) were considered to be free and independent, though the 
main part of the country above had been seized by the Samnites. 
Now at the time just mentioned the Senate sent to Palsepolis to 
complain of piracies and other outrages committed upon Roman 
subjects in Campania. But the Greek city, being closely allied 
with her sister Neapolis and the great Oscan town of Nola 
(which had almost become Greek), seeing also that she might 
count on the aid of the Samnites against Rome, and being 
secretly instigated by the Tarentines, refused to give any satis- 
* "Duse Romse additse Tribus, Ufentina et Falerina." — Liv. ix. 20. 



198 EOME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book III. 

faction for the alleged injuries. On this the Senate declared war, 
and ordered L. Publilius Philo, the plebeian Consul, to besiege 
Palsepolis ; and this city on her part received a garrison, consisting 
(it was said) of 2000 Nolans and 4000 Samnites. 

§ 8. The Consul encamped between the two cities, the new 
and the old : "but the Romans were at this time unskilful in 
sieges, and the year drew on without any great advance being 
made. Publilius Philo, however, was a deserved favourite of the 
people, and in order to enable him to continue the war, he 
received the title of Pro-consul, with the command of the be- 
sieging army for the next year — the first example of a practice 
which afterwards became common. Still all his efforts might 
have been vain,- had not two traitor Greeks, holding high offices 
in Palsepolis, offered to betray the city. This offer was eagerly 
accepted, and the Romans were admitted into the old town at one 
gate, while the Samnite garrison left it by the opposite side. 
From this time we hear no more of Palcepolis. The Neapolitans, 
foreseeing the ascendency of Rome, entered into a treaty of peace 
with the Senate ; and Publilius returned home completely suc- 
cessful. He was the first Pro-consul ; he was also the first general 
Avho was allowed to triumph before he had laid down his office. 

§ 9. While these affairs were going on, war broke out with the 
Samnites. The Senate sent ambassadors to complain of the 
conduct of these people in encouraging the men of Privernum to 
revolt, and in supporting the Greeks of Palsepolis against Rome. 
The Samnites denied both charges, and fiercely retorted upon 
Rome for daring to colonise Fregellse, which they had taken and 
destroyed. " What need of further trifling ?" said they ; " war 
is the only way to settle our disputes, and the plain of Campania 
must be our battle-ground. There let us rrieet, between Capua 
and Suessula, and decide which is to be mistress of Italy, Samnium 
or Rome." But the Romans, coldly replying that it was their 
custom to choose their own field of battle, contented themselves 
with declaring war ; and the colleague of Publilius was ordered 
to enter the Samnite frontiers. Thus in the year 326 b.c. was 
war again begun between Rome and Samnium. This time it 
lasted, not two years, as before, but twenty-two. It was a 
desolating warfare, which brought both nations to the last stage 
of exhaustion. But Rome remained the conqueror. 




Beneventum in Samnium. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



THE GREAT SAMNITE WAR, COMMONLY CALLED THE SECOND. 
(326—304 B.C.) 

§ 1. Part taken in war by nations of Southern Italy. § 2. Leading men at 
Eome: M. 'Valerius Corvus, M. Papirius Cursor, Q. Fabius, P. Decius the 
younger, etc. § 3. "War divided into three periods. § 4. First Period 
(326-322), in which Eomans gain the upper hand. § 5. Second Period 
(B.C. 321-315): great Defeat of Roman Army at Furculas Caudinffi. §6. 
Pontius passes Romans under yoke, and releases them on conditions of peace. 
§ T. Peace repudiated by Senate. § 8. Remarks on their conduct. § 9. ' 
Continued success of Samnites, tOl 315. § 10. Third Period (314-304) : 
precautionary measures : Capua called to account : Colonists sent to Fre- 
geUse, Casinum, Interamna, Suessa. § 11. "War declared by Etruscans. 
§ 12. Great defeat of Sammtes by Papirius. § 13. Of Etruscans by Fabius. 
§ 14. Samnites sue for Peace (304 B.C.) § 15. "Why Senate was ready to 
come to terms. — Thirty-three Tribes. 

§ 1. War being declared, the Senate hastened to detach from the 
cause of the Samnites such of the Sabellian tribes as would listen 
to their diplomacy. They appear to have been successful with 
some of the Lucanian and some of the Apulian communities. 
We find indeed, that the Lucanians soon after took part with the 



200 ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book m. 

Samnites ; but their aid seems to have been of an uncertain and 
unstable character. The alliance formed with the Apulian tribes 
was more serviceable to Rome. 

Tarentum, which was now the chief of the Greek cities in the 
South of Italy, took no direct part in the war, but regarded it with 
no common interest. Lately the Samnites and Lucanians had 
been her chief enemies ; but the conquests of Rome, and especially 
the fall of Palsepolis, had excited the interest and the fears of the 
Greek cities in the south, and their good wishes were on the side 
of Samnium. Indeed, we are expressly told that it was by the 
arts of the Tarentines that the Lucanians were detached from their 
alliance with Rome.* 

§ 2. Such was the state of the neighbouring nations when war 
broke out. It will be useful here to notice the men whom the 
Romans expected to lead them to victory. 

Of T. Manlius Torquatus, the conqueror of the Latins, we hear 
not. Either he was dead, or the horror caused by the ruthless 
execution of his son prevented his being again elected Consul. But 
M. Valerius Corvus, the conqueror of the Samnites in the First 
War, was still in the vigour of life. He had been first elected 
Consul in the year 346, at the early age of twenty-three, now, 
therefore, he was little more than forty-four. Four times had he 
been Consul ; and as Dictator, in the year after his Samnite vic- 
tory, he had quelled a dangerous insurrection without bloodshed. 
In the course of this war he was once more Dictator and twice 
Consul. 

But the general in whom the Senate seem to have placed most 
confidence was M. Papirius Cursor. Four times was he made 
Consul in this war, and once Dictator, and his services were usually 
called for in the greatest emergencies. He was a man of little 
education, of great bodily strength, and especially remarkable for 
his swiftness of foot (whence his name of Cursor) ; able to endure 
* all extremes of hunger, cold, and fatigue ; and not without a rough 
sort of humour. Once, it is said, the troops asked for some remis- 
sion of duty in reward for good service : " Very well," said he, 
" you need not stroke your horses on the back when you dismount." 
Again, an off"ender was brought before hhn as he was walking up 
and down in front of his tent, and straightway he bade the lictor 
get ready his axe. The culprit, pale with fear, stood expecting his 
death-blow, when Papirius said- — " Here, lictor, cut away this root, 
or 'twill trip me up as I Avalk ;" and then dismissed the trembling- 
wretch. A man of this kind was sure to be popular with the sol- 
diers ; yet often he lost their good-will by his violent and overbear- 
ing conduct. 

* Liv. viii. 21, Ifin. 



Chap. XXII. SECOND SAMNITE WAR. 201 

Q. Fabius Maximus* was perhaps the most considerable man 
of the time. He was a patrician, but the warm friend of the 
plebeian P. Dccius, the sou of that Decius who devoted himself so 
nobly in the Latin War. Fabius more than once proved himself 
the better genius of Rome, in the latter part of this war and after- 
wards. 

With these three Patricians must be remembered the names of 
C. Marcius Rutilus and Q. Publilius Philo, Plebeians, who have 
already been mentioned more than once. 

To oppose these Roman chiefs, the Samnites had no doubt bold 
and skilful leaders ; for during a great part of the war their arms 
Avere in the ascendant. But the only name we know is that of C. 
Pontius ; and a fitter place will occur presently to speak of this 
great man. 

§ 3. The war itself may be conveniently divided into three 
periods : the first, from 326 to 322, when the Samnites were so far 
reduced as to sue for peace; the second from 321, when the Ro- 
mans were defeated at the Caudine Forks, to 315, when the Sam- 
nites gained another victory at Lautulse, and Capua threatened to 
revolt ; the third, from 314, when the Roman fortune again began 
to prevail, to 304, when the war ended. 

§ 4. First Period (326— 322).— The year after the fall of Pa- 
Isepolis, the Senate boldly ordered the Consul D. Junius Brutus to 
march into the allied country of Apulia, in order to attack the Sam- 
nites from that quarter, while the other Consul entered Samnium 
from Campania. By this means they hoped to avert tlfe war from 
their own territory, as they had done successfully in the Latin 
war. Brutus was refused a passage through the Vestinian country, 
and spent the whole year in reducing these people to submission. 
The purpose of this was, no doubt, to secure a passage into 
Apulia. 

Meantime, the other Consul being sick, M. Papirius Cursor was 
named Dictator to act in his place, and he chose Q. Fabius as his 
Master of Horse. The Dictator found the Samnite army ad- 
vanced to the edge of the Lower Apennines, which overhang 
the Latian Plain, somewhere in the neighbourhood of Sublaqueum 
(Subiaco), and there he fixed his camp. Being recalled to Rome 
to rectify some mistake in the auguries, he left the army in com- 
mand of Fabius, strictly charging him not to venture on an action. 
But in a day or two, as he was presiding in the Senate, a message 
reached him to say that his Master of Horse had been so pro- 
voked by the hourly insults of the enemy, that he had attacked 
them and gained a signal victory. Papirius rushed out of the 

* Also called Rullianus. From this name it should seem that he waa 
adopted by a Fabius from the Gens RuUia. 

9* 



202 EOME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. 

Senate-house, and went straight to the army, vowing that his 
rebellious officer should die the death of young Manlius, the son 
of Torquatus. But Fabius, being forewarned, called the soldiers 
together, and told them of his danger; whereupon they bade 
him be of good cheer, for they would stand between him and 
the Dictator's wrath. The latter, as soon as he arrived, ordered 
the lictors to seize Fabius, who took refuge among the veterans ; 
and after a long struggle, the Dictator was obliged to let matters 
stand over till the next day. Meantime, Fabius fled to Eome, 
and appeared before the Senate to tell his story. But Papirius 
pursuing him, entered the Senate-house and ordered the lictors 
to arrest him. A scene of great violence followed ; and at 
length the Dictator was obliged to yield to the wishes of both 
Senate and People. But the pardon he granted was forced and 
ungracious, and on his return to the camp he found the army 
ripe for mutiny and unwilling to fight. Then even his stubborn 
will gave way ; he found it necessary to curb his angry temper, 
and adopt gentler manners ; till at length, having recovered the 
good-will of the soldiery, he again attacked the enemy, and again 
defeated them. 

So discouraged were the Samnites, that they sued for peace ; but 
only a year's truce was granted, at the end of which hostilities 
were resumed with the same fortune as before. They were again 
defeated in a great battle on the borders of their own country ; 
while Q. Fabius, now Consul, made an irruption into the northern 
part of Apulia, which was still subject to the Samnites, and 
took Luceria, with other places. On these losses, the enemy 
prayed for peace more earnestly than before ; but the Senate 
refused to treat unless Brutulus Papius, whom they accounted 
the leader of the war-party, were first delivered up. This man 
nobly said that he would not stand in the way of his country's 
wishes, and sought a voluntary death. Then the Samnites sent 
ambassadors to Eome, bearing the body of Papius, to repeat their 
former prayer. But this unworthy treatment of a man whose 
only fault seems to have been that he loved his county too well, 
was of no avail. The conditions of peace ofiered by the Senate 
were so hard, that it was thought that a war ever so unsuccessful 
could bring about no worse results. It was determined to renew 
hostilities. 

§ 5. Second Period (321 — 315 B.C.) — As during the first five 
years of the war the Roman arms had prevailed, so during the 
next seven the Samnites were almost uniformly successful. This 
success was mainly due to C. Pontius. Herennius, his father, 
was famed for wisdom, not without reason ; for he had drank at 
the fountain of Greek philosophy, having been the friend of the 



Chap. XXII. SECOND SAMNITE WAR. 203 

Pythagorean sage Archytas,'* avIio had governed Tarentum with 
wisdom and virtue for many years. Herennius had paid great 
attention to the education of his son, and the name of C. Pontius 
stood so high, that he was elected captain-general of the Samnite 
League. 

The very first year of his command was marked by one of the 
greatest disgraces which the Roman armies ever suffered. This 
w^as the famous affair of the Caudine Forks (Furculae Caudinse). 

It appears that in this year (321 b.c.) both the Consuls, T. 
Yeturius and Sp. Posthumius, had been ordered to march into 
Campania, in order to attack Samnium from that country. When 
they reached Capua, they heard that Pontius with the whole Sam- 
nite army was besieging Luceria. Thinking that, unless they hast- 
ened by the shortest way into Apulia, the whole country might 
fall away from the Romans, they marched straight northward into 
Samnium, taking the road which led by Calatia through the 
mountains to Beneventum, the chief town of the Caudini. Soon 
after the road enters the mountains, the valley becomes very nar- 
row : it then opens out into a small plain, and then closes in again.f 
When the Roman armies, after traversing the plain, attempted to 
defile through the pass at the far end of it, they found they had 
been deceived by false reports. The enemy had indeed besieged 
Luceria ; but C. Pontius himself, with the best of his troops, had 
beset the road, and was so strongly posted, that it seemed impossi- 
ble to force a passage. The Consuls then turned about, intending 
to go back into Campania and seek another way into Apulia, but 
they found that the enemy had in the meantime taken possession 
of the pass by which they had entered, so that they were hemmed 
in both in front and rear. The hills on either side were also 
guarded, so that escape was impossible. Still the Romans made a 
desperate attempt to force their way out of this trap, but at what 
point is unknown. Great numbers fell ; one-half of their ofiicers 
were killed or wounded ; and not till then did the Consuls offer 
to treat.J 

§ 6. Pontius was so elated by his great success, that he knew not 
what would be the best use to make of his victory. In this state 
of doubt he sent for his sage father, and demanded counsel. " Two 
courses are open to you," said Herennius, " either to put all to the 

* Cicero de Senect. c. 12. 

f The place is uncertaiQ. It was certainly on the road from Capua to 
Beneventum, and must have been either the Stretto d'Arpaia, a narrow defile 
between Arienzo and Arpaia, or the depressed vaUey beyond Arpaia, between 
that place and -Montesarchio. 

:]: Livy mentions no battle : he did not see that defeat was more glorioua 
than surrender. But the battle is expressly mentioned by Cicero (de OflBc. 
iii. 30, de Senect. 12), and the great loss is specified by Appian. 



204 ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. 

sword, and deprive your enemies of a brave army ; or to let them 
go untouclied, and make them your friends." This advice has 
been highly praised, but without much reason. It sounds like 
the policy of a rude Samnite mountaineer, rather than of one who 
had heard the lessons of Grecian wisdom. The slaughter of a 
whole army is too cruel for a civilised man to think of. To dis- 
miss them all without conditions would have been a romantic 
piece of generosity, Avhich the Roman Senate would have ascribed 
either to folly or to fear. Nor did Pontius listen to his father's 
counsel. He proposed to let the army go free, on surrendering 
their arms and publicly acknowledging their defeat, if the chief 
oflScers would engage to procure a peace and cause that all 
towns and lands which had been taken from the Samnites should 
be restored. This was agreed to; the treaty was signed by the 
Consuls and all the superior officers. Six hundred knights were 
handed over to Pontius as hostages till the treaty was ratified by 
the Senate. And then the whole army, clad in their under gar- 
ments only, having given up their armour and cloaks, was allowed 
to go through the Samnite lines, each man passing singly under 
the yoke. They returned in this sorry guise to Capua, where 
they were supplied with arms and outer garments, that they might 
not return to Rome like prisoners or slaves. But so ashamed 
were they, that none would go into the city till nightfall, except 
the Consuls, who were obliged to enter publicly, and by daylight. 
But they shared in the feelings of their men, and the whole 
Roman people Avere oppressed by shame and grief. All busi- 
ness was suspended ;* all ranks put on mourning ; all festivals, 
public and private, were adjourned ; and the Comitia for election 
of new magistrates were held by an Interrex, the Consuls being- 
deemed unworthy to preside. The persons chosen to be the 
new Consuls were those held most likely to repair this great 
disaster, — L. Papirius Cursor the Patrician, and Q. Publilius Philo 
the Plebeian. 

§ 7. Pontius now demanded the fulfilment of the treaty, and 
the matter was laid before the Senate. The late Consuls, who 
had made the treaty, rose and declared that it ought not to be 
observed ; that they and all who had signed that shameful treaty 
ought to be given up to the enemy. Two Tribunes of the Plebs 
opposed this motion, but they were not heard. Consuls, Legion- 
ary Tribunes, Quaestors, and all others who had signed, were given 
to the fecial or herald ; and he delivered them in chains to the 
Samnites. As soon as this was done, Postumius, the late Consul, 
struck the Roman fecial with his knee, saying : " I anl now a Sam- 

* Justitium indicium est. 



Chap. XXIL SECOND SAMNITE WAR. 205 

nite subject, and thus do I insult ttie sacred officer of Rome. The 
Romans can now make rightful Avar against the Samnites." But 
Pontius cut short this paltry quibbling by declaring that he would 
not receive the prisoners at all. " Rome," said he, " made a treaty 
with me ; I will not excuse her performance of her duty because 
she gives up the persons of a few officers. If she will not have 
the treaty, let her place her army as it was in the Pass of Caudine 
Forks, and then I will see what may be done." The Roman pri- 
soners returned to Rome ; the six hundred hostages were left, to 
the mercy of the Samnites. 

§ 8. In this matter the Roman Senate has been much blamed 
for treachery and breach of faith. But, to justity such censure, 
we must be able to answer these questions : — Had the Consuls 
power to make a treaty binding on the whole people ? Or if they 
had not, did they send to Rome to obtain the sanction of the 
Senate and People? If these questions are answered, one or 
both of them, in the affirmative, then doubtless the Senate were 
most guilty. But if the Consuls had no such power, and if the 
authorities at home had not been consulted, then all that can be 
said is that C. Pontius ought not to have dismissed the army 
till the treaty had been duly ratified : for Rome was so near that 
an answer could soon have been brought back. There is too 
much reason to think that, directly or indirectly, some authority 
was given to the treaty. At all events the conduct of Postumius, 
in pretending to be a Samnite when he insulted the Roman fecial, 
is, to our notions, contemptible, if not too ludicrous even to be 
contemptible. 

§ 9. So the war was renewed, and Papirius Cursor, with his ple- 
beian colleague, took the field. It is said that Luceria surrendered 
to Papirius ; at all events, his presence in Apulia prevented that 
people from deserting the Roman alliance, and he was re-elected 
Consul for the next year. 

The history of the rest of this period is obscure. Two years 
passed in another armistice, during which the Romans created 
the two new Oscan Tribes above noticed.'* But fortune continued 
to favour the Samnites. They advanced still further along the 
upper valley of the Liris; Sora revolted to them, and they expelled 
the Roma;i colonists from Fregellse ; so that the Romans lost the 
command of the upper road into Campania. Still the Senate 
persisted in their aggressive policy ; and in the eleventh year of 
the war, Papirius and Publilius, again colleagues in the Consul- 
ship, again led their arms into Apulia and Samnium, leaving 
the lower Campanian road undefended. On this the Samnites 

* Cliapt. xxi. § 5. 



206 EOME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book III. 

descended into Campania ; and Fabius, being appointed Dictator, 
had only just time to occupy the pass of Lautulse, which has 
been mentioned as an important position on the lower road, 
between Anxur and Fundi. But Fabius, brave and skilful as he 
was, could not hold his post with ah army so hastily drawn 
together. He was defeated with great loss, Q. Aulius Cerre- 
tanus. Master of the Horse, being in the number of the slain. 
The loss of Lautulse opened Latium to the Samnite army; the 
Auruncans and other Oscan tribes rose against Rome, and 
Campania threatened to revolt. The condition of the city 
seemed desperate. But old Eome never shone so bright as 
when her light seemed quite put out. "Merses profundo, pul- 
chrior evenit," is no poetic fancy, but an historic truth. And so 
it was even now. Fabius appears to have saved part of his 
army, and with it to have joined one of the Consuls, who had 
returned home in haste, when the news of the battle of Lautulse 
reached him. They fell upon the Samnites, and defeated them 
completely. 

From this time the star of the Samnites began to wane. For 
the remaining ten years of the war the Roman arms uniformly 
prevailed ; and with these begin our third and last period. 

§ 10. Third Period (314 — 304 B.C.). — The defeat of the Sam- 
nites just mentioned was so complete, that they could not meet 
the Romans in the field. The wretched Auruncans, who had 
been tempted to revolt after the battle of Lautulse, were betrayed 
to their old masters, and (to use the words of Livy) were annihi- 
lated.* Msenius was named Dictator to inquire into Campanian 
disaffection ; and his presence at Capua created so much terror, 
that the two Calavii, the leaders of the confederacy, were delivered 
up to him, and a general amnesty was granted. 

The Senate then busied themselves with so fortifying the 
upper road, that they might never again lose it. Sora was a 
second time betrayed to them; they re-established the Colony 
of Fregellse, and sent colonists to Casinum, Interamna, and 
Suessa, so that these places, with Cales, formed a line of for- 
tresses along the Samnite frontier. They also took the large 
town of Nola in Southern Campania, and probably also Salernum, 
so that the Samnites were now almost, if not quite, cut off from 
the southern sea. Lastly, a large body of colonists was sent to 
the distant town of Luceria, to prevent its being again surprised 
by the enemy. Thus were the Samnites held in check on every 
side. 

§ 11. The war would probably have come to a quick conclusion 

* " Deleta gens Ausonum." — ix. 25. 



Chap. XXH. SECOND SAMNITB WAR. 207 

had it not been that in the fifteenth year the forty years' truce 
Avith the Etruscans of the southern country ended, and this 
people stirred up other cities of Northern Etruria to join with 
them in war against Rome. In that year Q. Fahius was appointed 
Consul for the second time, to conduct the war against the Etrus- 
cans, while C. Marcius Rutilus, his colleague, held the Samnites in 
check. But the Plebeian Consul was defeated by the Samnites, 
and cut off from communication with the city. The Senate, in 
great alarm, resolved that Papirius Cursor should be named Dic- 
tator. But who was to name him? Marcius could not; and 
Fabius, it was feared, would not.* However, they sent to the latter 
in Etruria, trusting that love of his country would overcome 
memory of his private wrongs. Fabius received the order to exalt 
his old enemy in silence, and turned abruptly from the messengers; 
but at dead of night he rose, according to ancient custom, and 
named his deadly foe to the Dictatorship. 

§ 12, For the next year (309 B.C.), it appears from the Fasti 
that no Consuls were elected. Papirius, with dictatorial power, 
led his legions into Samnium ; while Fabius continued as Pro- 
consul in Etruria. The Samnites had made great exertions to 
improve their success, and the splendid equipment of their army is 
described by Livy. One division wore striped tunics with gilded 
shields ; the other was clad in white, with shields of silver. But 
all was of no avail ; the long-tried fortune of Papirius again pre- 
vailed, and the Samnites were once more utterly defeated. This 
was the last battle they fought in this war. 

§ 13. Meanwhile Fabius had been no less successful in Etruria. 
He first made another attempt upon the Etruscan lines at 
Sutrium ; but finding them too strong to be forced, with the 
bold decision which marks the Roman leaders of this time he 
determined to make an inroad into their country. He knew 
their weakness at home, caused by the tyranny which was 
exercised bv the Lucumones over their serfs. Still his enter- 
prise was a bold one. To reach the Vulsinian territory he must 
traverse the Ciminian hills.* Since Lower Etruria had been con- 
quered, these hills had been left as a frontier, not to be occupied 
by either party. They were quite overgrown with wood, and no 
Roman foot (it is said) had traversed them for many years, 
Fabius proposed to make his way through this barrier, and 
descend at once upon Vulsinii, justly calculating that the alarm 
caused by his appearance would draw off the invading army. 
He sent forward his brother Marcus, who had been brought up 
at Caere and spoke Etruscan like a native, to examine the 

* See Chapt, vi. § 9. 



208 ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. 

country beyond the forest; and sent word to tlie Senate of his 
intention, that they might provide means to defend the city, in 
case the Etruscans ventured to attack it in his absence. The 
Senate was alarmed by his boldness, and sent off ambassadors, 
attended by two Tribunes, with positive orders to stop his march. 
But Fabius was already in Etruria. He ravaged the country 
far and wide ; and the enemy broke up from Sutrium to defend 
their own homes. He encountered them near Perusia, and, after 
a bloody battle, defeated them utterly. The result was that 
the cities whom the Vulsinians had drawn into the war, made 
a peace for thirty years. The ^ilsinians, however, continued in 
arms. 

§ 14. The Samnites were now quite worn out. The war had 
lasted more than twenty years. The Romans every year invaded 
their country ; and at length, upon the fall of Bovianum, the chief 
town of the Pentrians, they sued for peace. It was granted, but 
on hard terms. They lost all their territory on the sea-coast : they 
gave up all foreign alliances and conquests, and acknowledged the 
supremacy of Rome. 

§ 15. The Senate were more ready to come to terms, because 
some of her other neighbours threatened to be troublesome. 
Even the Hernicans, the old and faithful allies of Rome, had risen 
against her just before the close of the war ; but they were re- 
duced in a single campaign, and their towns treated as those of the 
Latins had been before. Anagnia, their chief city, became a 
Roman municipal town. Part of the Volscian lands also were 
occupied by the, colonies of Interamna and Casinum (as above 
noted), and more recently by Sora. At the close of the war, the 
remnant of the -^quians also ventured to provoke the wrath of 
Rome. They also were soon subdued, and two Colonies were 
planted among their mountains — at Alba on the Fucine Lake, and 
at Carseoli ; and by the next Censors the JEquian territory on the 
Anio was formed into two new Tribes, so that now the number 
amounted to Thirty -three.* This near approach of Roman settlers 
alarmed the Sabellian tribes on the high Apennines, and the Mar- 
sians declared war. They also were defeated ; upon which the 
Senate at once offered to enter into a league with them on equal 
terms : and the Marsians long remained the faithful ally of Rome. 
The Marrucinians, Pelignians, Frentanians, and Vestinians, also 
joined the Roman league. 

* In the censorship of P. Sempronius Sophus, P. Sulpicius, 299 B.C. "Tri- 
busque addite duse, Anienis et Terentina." — ^Liv. s; 9, 




'mB ^ME [li<0)*CM FSCilP i 0_J 




■.■.■.■.Eu.a.u.iAiAlaftM.B.i.i,KKi.n,naAii,axjiAi;M,ifl.i'.«ji«aa 




Tomb of Scjpio Barbatus. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



THIRD SAMNITE WAR. (299 290 B.C.) 

§ 1. Hollowness of the late peace. § 2. Rome engaged in war -with Etrus- 
cans, Umbrians, and Gauls. § 3. Samnites choose this crisis for declaring 
war. § 4. Samnium desolated by Fabius and Decius. § 5. Great con- 
federacy organised by Gellius Bgnatius, the Samnite. § 6. Fabius and 
Decius again elected Consuls: great efforts for Campaign. § T. Decisive 
battle of Sentinum : self-sacrifice of second Decius. § 8. Victory in Sam- 
nium by Papirius and Carvilius. § 9. C. Pontius agatu appears, and is 
taken prisoner by Pabius. § 10. Great Colony planted at Venusia. § 11. 
Submission of Samnites. § 12. Shameful death of C. Pontius. 

§ 1. The peace whicli concluded the Second Samnite War was 
made in 304 e.g., and in less than six years from that time the 
Third Samnite War began. This peace indeed was no peace (in 
our sense of the word), but a mere armistice on the part of the 
Samnites, who no doubt were resolved to break it as soon as they 
feit themselves strong enough to renew hostilities. 

Their great want in the late war*had been allies. They had 
fought single-handed against Rome, who was supported by Latins, 
Campanians, and Apulians. The greater part of the Sabellian 
tribes had stood aloof in cold neutrality, or had rendered a very 
doubtful succour. But an opportunity now offered which seemed 
to present occasion for forming a great confederation of Central 
Italy against Rome. 



210 EOMB CONQUEROR OP ITALT. Book III. 

§ 2. After the conclusion of tte peace before-named, Rome 
again appears in hostility with many of the Etruscan cities, not- 
withstanding the thirty years' truce which all except Vulsinii had 
lately made.* At Arretium (Arezzo) we find the noble house of 
the Cilnii, from whom C. Cilnius Maecenas, the minister of Augus- 
tus, claimed descent, inviting the Romans to restore them to the 
city from which they had been banished. Perusia also and other 
cities appear in arms. Even beyond Etruria, in Umbria, we find 
the Romans at war with the people of Nequinum, a city strongly 
situated on the Nar (Nera). After an obstinate siege they took 
the place, and planted a Colony there, under the name of Narnia 
(Narni), to command the point at which the frontiers of Etruria, 
Umbria, and the Sabines meet. The Umbrians were so alarmed 
by this aggressive movement, that they called in to aid them a 
people who had hitherto been regarded with horror by all Italian 
nations. 

A tribe of the Senonian Gauls, the same who had burnt Rome, 
had made a permanent settlement on the TJmbrian coast-land, 
between the litis and the ^sk. The Umbrians, once a large 
and powerful nation, had been gradually confined to the moun- 
tain land on the left bank of the Tiber ; and these Gauls had 
been the last enemy who had encroached upon their lands till the 
late settlement of the Romans at Narnia. We may infer the 
alarm felt by the Umbrians from the fact of their seeking such 
assistance. 

§ 3. In the year 298 B.C. the Consuls were preparing to resist an 
attack from the Umbrians and Gauls ; and this was the favourable 
moment chosen by the Samnites for renewing the war. 

Their first step was to overpower the Roman party in Lucania 
and Apulia ; the colony of Luceria alone held out. Then they 
attempted to draw over the Marsians to their league ; but this 
people turned a deaf ear to the voice of the tempter. The 
Sabines, however, of the upper country, gave a favourable answer. 

With this formidable confederacy on the one hand, and the 
fear of the Etrurians, Umbrians, and Senonian Gauls on the 
other, the position of Rome appeared critical. But for some 
reason the fickle Gauls failed in their engagement, the Umbrians 
did not move, and Rome was left to deal with the Samnite 
league on the south, and the Etruscan cities on the north. But 
no doubt the interposition , of the Frentanians and of the Marsians, 
with, their associated cantons, between the Samnites and Northern 
Italy, must have greatly strengthened the hands of Rome in the 
ensuing war. 

* Chapt. xxii. § 12. 



Chap. XXIIL THIED SAMNITE WAE. 211 

§ 4. The patrician Consul of tlie year 298 b.c, L. Cornelius 
Scipio Barbatus, the first of a great name,'* invaded Etruria, while 
his colleague, Cn. Fulvius, entered the country of the Pentrian 
Samnites. Fulvius gained not that advantage which the Roman 
people expected over an enemy whom they considered as already 
conquered. Accordingly, the general wish was to elect Q. Fabius 
Maximus, the hero of the late war, Consul for the next year. 
Fabius was now an elderly man, and this would be his fourth 
Consulship. He was fain to decline the task, but at length gave 
way on condition that his plebeian colleague should be P. Decius 
Mus, son of him who devoted himself in the great Latin war ; 
and he also had been Consul twice before. They had been col- 
leagues in the Consulship four years before (301 b.c), and had 
cordially united in measures calculated to preserve harmony in 
the state, as we shall show in the next chapter. They continued 
firm friends till the death of Decius, and present a most honoura- 
ble specimen of a Patrician and Plebeian combined for the com- 
mon good. 

Etruria was neglected. Both Consuls invaded Samnium : Fa- 
bius the Pentrian, Decius the Caudine valleys. They overran 
every part, burning and destroying. It is said that in this sum- 
mer's campaign, Decius encamped in forty-five diff"erent places, 
Fabius in eighty-six. The campaign served to detach the Luca- 
nians and Apulians from alliance with the Samnites. 

§ 5. It appeared as if this brave people were again at the feet 
of Rome ; and L. Volumnius, the plebeian Consul of the next 
yeai: (296 b.c), whilst his colleague App. Claudius was sent into 
Etruria, entered Samnium as if to take possession. But the 
Samnites rose from under their calamities with an elasticity as 
great as Rome herself displayed. Probably in the terrible assault 
of the last year great part of their flocks and herds, their chief 
wealth, had been secured in mountain fastnesses, and therefore 
they sufi^ered not so much as an agricultural people might have 
done. But the chief merit of their renewed vigour must be at- 
tributed to a brave chief, named Gellius Egnatius, who shines 
forth for a moment, like Pontius in the former war, through the 
uncertain mist of Samnite history, as it is transmitted to us by 
Roman annalists. The plan for an Italian confederation, which 
had been faintly attempted at the beginning of the war, this man' 
attempted to realise by a step as bold as ever was taken in a des- 
perate emergency. 

* This was the Scipio' whose sarcophagus (figured at the head of this Chap- 
ter) is so familiar to aU eyes. The inscription on it records tliat he " conquered 
the Lucanians, &c., and led away hostages." When this was done is not re- 
corded in Liw- 



212 ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. 

With a clioseii body of Samnites he made a rapid march into 
the valley of the Tiber, between Umbria and Etruria, hoping that 
his presence might rouse to action the slumbering energies of those 
countries, leaving, however, a sufficient force to keep Volumnius 
employed in Samnium. App. Claudius, a remarkable man, of 
whose acts in peace we shall have to speak in the next chapter, 
was more skilled in the contests of the Senate than of the field, 
and he was alarmed to hear that Gellius was likely to rouse both 
TJmbrians and Gauls to join the Etruscans. He shut himself up 
in an entrenched camp, and sent orders to his colleague to join 
him. But no attack was made that year. 

§ 6. In this state of alarm the people were convened to elect 
Consuls for the ensuing year (295 b.c). They at once chose old 
Fabius for the fifth time, and would have continued Volumnius in 
office. But Fabius again refused to be elected unless he was united 
to his old and tried colleague, P. Decius ; and this noble Plebeian 
was elected for the fourth time Consul. 

At the very beginning of the year Fabius went to the camp of 
the late Consuls, where he found Appius adding to the fortifica- 
tions. He treated the statesman with much contempt, and led 
forth the men into the field, exercising them daily. He then 
returned for a short time to the city, to concert measures with the 
Senate for the eventful campaign that followed. 

It was settled that both the Consuls, with four legions, were 
to go forward into Umbria, so as to separate the Samnites, with 
their Umbrian and Gallic allies, from Etruria. Scipio Barbatus 
had been sent forward with a single legion to watch the move- 
ments of the enemy. Yolumnius, as Proconsul, was sent into 
Samnium. Fulvius was to be stationed near Falerii with a re- 
serve force to overawe Etruria ; while a fourth army, under Pos- 
tumius, was to cover Rome herself. This was the largest number 
of troops that the Republic had ever yet called into the field. 
With her allies she could not have had less than 100,000 men 
under arms. 

§ 7. When the Consuls took the field, they were greeted with 
the unwelcome news that Scipio had been overpowered by the 
Gauls ; and that these barbarians, with some of the Etruscans, 
had joined the brave Gellius Egnatius in Umbria. They im- 
'mediately pushed across the Apennines, and (probably to supply 
Scipio's place) recalled Volumnius from Samnium. At the same 
time they sent orders to Fulvius to advance into Etruria, hoping 
by this diversion to draw off the Etruscans, and thus weaken 
the confederate army. The scheme was successful ; and when 
the Roman army met the confederates at Sentinum in Umbria, 
the Etruscans had already returned home. Here, as on all occa- 



Chap. XXIII. THIRD SAMNITE WAR. 213 

sions, the conduct of that people was weak and selfish. No brave 
man could trust his fortunes in their hands. 

The Roman army of Umbria, legionaries and allies, amounted 
to not less than 60,000 men. The enemy, even without the 
Etruscans, were far more numerous. Fabius commanded the 
right wing, which was opposed to Gellius with his Samnites, 
the Umbrians, and probably some other Italian tribes ; Decius 
on the left faced an immense host of Gauls. Just before the 
battle began, a hind and a wolf (so runs the story) ran down 
between the armies : the hind turned in among the Gauls, 
and was slain by their javelins ; the wolf sought refuge in the 
Roman ranks, and no man touched the sacred beast of Romulus. 
This was hailed as an omen of good, and the battle began. 
Fabius, after an obstinate struggle, brought up his reserve and the 
Samnites gave way. But he could not pursue them ; for Decius 
on his side had been less successful. The Gauls had brought 
their war-chariots into action, and the Romans were terror- 
struck by these strange engines of destruction. A panic seized 
the cavalry, and the legions wavered ; when Decius resolved to 
follow the example of his father, and devote himself for his 
country. He went through the same solemn forms ; his heroic 
death lent new courage to his men, and they returned to the 
charge under the command of M. Livius, the Pontifex Maximus. 
Still the Gauls kept their ground unflinching, though the heat 
of an Italian sun relaxed the strength of their northern frames. 
At this time Fabius, having driven the Samnites and their con- 
federates from the field, wheeled round, and assailed the Gauls on 
their left flank, while he detached the Campanian cavalry to take 
them in rear. Thus surrounded, they were soon completely 
broken, and a general pursuit took place. Then the Samnites 
were attacked anew, and the brave Gellius Egnatius fell fighting. 
But a remnant of his hardy mountaineers retreated in good order, 
and regained their own country. The slaughter on both sides was 
prodigious. 

Such was the battle of Sentinum, which determined the fate of 
Samnium and of Italy. The triumph of Fabius, who returned not 
home till he had gained another victory over the Etruscans at 
Perusia, was well deserved. But it was marred by the absence of 
his brave colleague ; and none felt this more than Fabius himself. 
He pronounced an oration over the grave of his thrice-proved 
friend, lamenting that he had borne all the danger, but had not 
lived to share the glory. 

§ 8. Notwithstanding this complete rout of the confederates, 
the Samnites maintained the contest for five years more. In 293 
B.C. they made a desperate effort ; certain picked battalions were 



214 ROME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book m. 

splendidly armed, as in the last war, and bound themselves by 
horrid oaths to die or conquer. The Consuls of the year were 
L. Papirius, son of Papirius Cursor, and Sp. Carvilius;' and they 
both invaded Samnium, as Fabius and Decius had done four 
years before. The Samnites resolved to try the fortune of 
another battle with their new levies, and their armies met 
Papirius — we know not where. When the omens were taken 
from the feeding of the sacred fowls (puUi), their keeper (the 
pullarius) reported that " they fed well, — so greedily indeed, that 
some of the corn fell over." The omen was good. But just as 
the battle was beginning the nephew of the Consul Papirius 
came to him in great fear : " for," said he, " the pullarius has 
lied ; the fowls will not eat at all." " Be it so," replied the 
Consul, " the omens were reported to me as good, and I shall 
begin the battle. If the report was false, let the false speaker 
look to it ;" and he ordered the pullarius to be set in the front 
rank. At the first onset the wretch was killed ; by his death the 
anger of the gods was believed to be averted, and the Romans 
advanced to battle with fresh confidence. In the heat of battle 
Papirius, confident of victory, shouted : " Jupiter, grant me vic- 
tory, and I will give thee a cup of wine and honey before I touch 
a cup myself." The soldiers recognised the rough humour of old 
Papirius Cursor, and shared the general's confidence. The enemy 
were utterly defeated; and the rest of the year was spent in 
ravaging the country. The booty taken was immense ; and Car- 
vilius signalised his triumph by erecting a colossal statue of Jupi- 
ter on the Capitol, so huge that it could be seen from the Albau 
Hill, twelve miles off. 

§ 9. These vigorous measures were not continued the next 
year, when Q. Fabius Gurges, son of old Fabius, was sent alone 
into Samnium. He had the name but not the nature of his 
father, and the Samnites were once more commanded by their 
greatest man, C. Pontius, of whom we hear nothing from the 
year of the Furculse Caudinse to the present time. He resumed 
his old tactics, and again drew the Romans into a defile, from 
which, however, he allowed them to escape, but not without 
heavy loss. The news of this unexpected reverse raised a 
storm of indignation at Rome, and the Consul was only saved 
from disgrace by his father, who volunteered to join the army 
as his son's legatus or lieutenant. His presence restored spirit 
to the army. Another battle was fought ; many thousand 
Samnites fell, and C. Pontius was taken prisoner. The tri- 
umphal procession was remarkable, because old Fabius and his 
son both appeared in the car of victory, and ascended together to 
the Capitol. 



Chap. XXIII. THIRD SAMNITB WAR. 215 

§ 10. The Senate had some fear lest Tarentum and the Southern 
tribes might even yet be excited to join the Samnites ; and to curb 
them, they determined to colonise Venusia, in Southern Apulia. 
It is said that 20,000 Komans and Latins settled in the future 
birthplace of Horace, and we shall find Venusia hereafter appear- 
ing as one of the most faithful of the Colonies. 

§ 11. Two years after, in the year 290 B.C., the Samnites finally 
laid down their arms, and submitted to Roman supremacy. One 
short struggle more followed ten years after, when the arrival of 
Pyn-hus gave false hopes to the people of Southern Italy. After 
his departure the Samnites, with the rest of the Italians, bowed 
without further dispute to the sovereignty of Rome. 

§ 12. The close of this war was marked by one disgraceful act, 
the death of C Pontius. He followed the triumphal procession 
of Fabius Gurges, and was beheaded in the prison under the 
Capitol. We blush for Rome when we hear of such treatment of 
a noble and generous enemy. We grieve that the last we hear of 
old Fabius is that he should have been associated in a triumph 
whose laurels were so grievously sullied. The death of Pontius 
not only showed a great want of magnanimity, but was a viola- 
tion of common humanity. But the religion of the Romans did 
not teach humanity ; and though they were magnanimous in mis- 
fortune, they were always tyrannical in success. 




''fej^-'K«i;'<<=^<=-:s- 



Appian "Way. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

CIVIL HISTORY DURING THE TIME OF THE SAMNITE "VVAKS. 



§ 1. Internal changes during Samnite "Wars : remnants of jealousy between 
two Orders: Pudicitia Plebeia. § 2. Patrician Clubs put down by C. 
Msenius. § 3. Ogulnian Law for admitting Plebeians to Pontificate and 
Augurate. § 4. Plebeians, as a class, no longer poor. § 5. Increasing 
number of Slaves and Preedmen. § 6. Political condition of Freedmen. 
§ 1. Appius Claudius Caecus: his scheme of uniting Patricians and Freed- 
men against Plebeians. § 8. Choice of Senate by Appius as Censor : his 
colleague resigns, but he remains sole Censor. § 9. He enrols Freedmen 
in aU Tribes. § 10. His agent, Cn. Flavins the notary : publishes a Calendar. 
§ 11. Elected Curule ^dile. § 12. Appius retains his Censorship for four 
years. § 13. His public works : Appian Eoad: Appian Aqueduct. §14. 
His later life. § 15. Eestoration of old rule with respect to Freedmen by 
Fabius and Decius : peaceable end of the question. 

§ 1. In a period of continued war, home affairs commonly present 
a monotonous aspect. It is after a war that civil commotions 
usually arise and political innovations take place. There were, 



Chap. XXIV. CIVIL HISTORY DURING SAMNITB WARS. 217 

however, some changes introduced during the Samnite wars that 
call for special notice. 

First, it may be noticed that as all political inequality be- 
tween Patricians and Plebeians had been removed, so all social 
distinctions were fast disappearing. Many Patrician families had 
fallen into decay ; a Plebeian Nobility had grown up by their 
side ; and the Publilii, the Marcii, the Decii, boasted names as 
great as the Manlii, the Papirii, the Fabii. Moreover access to 
the Senate Avas obtained, as we have before said, by the tenure of 
\ political office ; and, now that these offices Avere equally divided, 
it may be presumed that there were as many Plebeian Senators 
as Patrician. 

That jealousy still lingered in many minds is certain. A sign 
of this appears in the story preserved of the wife of Volumnius, 
the plebeian colleague of Appius Claudius in 296 b.c. She was 
a Patrician of the Virginian Gens, but the patrician matrons 
would not allow her to join in the worship of the Pudicitia 
Patricia, alleging that by marriage with a Plebeian she had for- 
feited her rights. Upon this she consecrated a chapel to Pudi- 
citia Plebeia. But petty jealousies of this kind did not find place 
among the better sort of either order. The example of Fabius 
and Decius shows that there were noble-minded men in each who 
could join heart and hand in the service of the state, 

§ 2. But there were many of the young Patricians who could 
not brook to part even with their political supremacy. Clubs 
(coitiones) were formed for the purpose of promoting the elec- 
tion of their own order at the Comitia, and debarring the Ple- 
beians from the rights accorded to them by the Licinian law. 
But C. Msenius, a Plebeian, who had been appointed Dictator to 
inquire into the threatened revolt of Capua (314 B.C.),* after 
executing his duty abroad, went on summarily to break up these 
political clubs as contrary to public good. The outcry raised by 
the clubbists Avas so great that he laid down his office, and sub- 
mitted to be impeached before the Senate, together with his 
Master of the Horse, M. Foslius, and the noble plebeian Q, Pub- 
lilius Philo, by whose advice he had acted. The complaint, how- 
ever, was dismissed, and the Clubs are little heard of afterwards. 

§ 3. The only exclusive privilege which was still maintained by 
the Patricians was, that they alone were eligible to the sacred 
offices of the Pontificate and Augurate.f There were still only 
four Pontifices, beside the Pontifex Maximus, and four Augurs, 

* Above, Chapt. xxii. § 10. 

f The Plebeians, indeed, first obtained entrances to the Censorsliip in 280 
B.C. — Liv. Epit. xiii. But there seems to have been no law necessary to 
admit them. 

10 



218 EOMB CONQUEROR OP ITALY. BookIIL 

all Patricians, according to the original institutions ascribed to 
Numa. But this privilege was little worth preserving, when it 
had been conceded that Plebeians could hold curule offices, enter 
the Capitoline Temple in triumphal procession, and take the aus- 
pices at the meeting of the Centuriate Assembly. Accordingly, 
in the year 300 B.C., a law was proposed by two Tribunes, both 
bearing the name of Ogulnius, for removing this last symbol of 
exclusive privilege. It was proposed that henceforth there should 
be eight Pontifices, four from each order, besides the chief Pontiff, 
who might be either patrician or plebeian, for we find the office 
held by Ti. Coruncanius, a distinguished Plebeian, not many years 
later. The number of Augurs was also to be increased to nine, 
four from each order, the ninth probably being President of the 
College, as was the Chief Pontiff' of the Pontifical College. 
Vacancies were to be filled up as heretofore, by the surviving mem- 
bers of the College, a practice which in Roman language was 
called Cobptatio!'' Decius spoke warmly in favour of the law, 
and it was carried by general consent. 

§ 4. We have now ceased to hear the epithet poor applied to 
the Plebeians as a class. There were still, no doubt, poor 
Plebeians, as there were poor Patricians ; but the law which de- 
livered debtors into bondage was no more, and the late divisions 
of Public Land to those who had been sent out to settle in the 
colonies lately planted in the Volscian, ^quian, and other dis- 
tricts, must have removed poverty from a large number of families. 
The colonial system of Rome, which afterwards played so import- 
ant a part in her policy, was as yet in its infancy, and we shall 
defer our consideration of its nature and intentions. But its 
eff'ect in diminishing the number of the poor Plebeians is self-evi- 
dent ; nor was anything now remaining to affix poverty to them 
as a class. 

§ 5. But while this complete fusion of the Orders was peace- 
ably brought about, a new element of discord was appearing in 
the state. The poor of the plebeian order had been relieved by 
colonisation. But another class of poor was rapidly arising with 
the increase of the city in population and wealth. In all large 
communities assembled in towns a vast number of needy per- 
sons are found, who live from hand to mouth, and are ready to 
take advantage of any political or social disturbance. In ancient 
cities, where labour and mechanical arts were chiefly left to 
slaves, this class was separated from the burgesses or citizens by 
a yet wider gulf than prevails in modern communities. For a 
long period of Rome's earlier age. Slaves seem not to have been 

* Being the process by which Fellows of Colleges at Oxford and Cambridge 
are elected. 



Chap. XXIV. CIVIL HISTORY DURING SAMNITB WARS. 219 

nnmerous. Agricultural labour was mostly clone by the Plebeians 
themselves, either as the owners of small estates or as free la- 
bourers. The mechanical works of artisans and the business of 
trade were mostly carried on by the Clients under the protection 
and for the benefit of their Patrons. But, no doubt, when Kome 
became a powei-fal monarchy under the later kings, she followed 
the example of all ancient states, and made Slaves of a large 
number of those whom she conquered. And the same process 
must have been repeated with accelerated rapidity during the 
progress which the arms of the Republic had made since the imion 
of Patricians and Plebeians. We find, in fact, that the Freedmen, 
that is, those who had once been Slaves or whose parents had been 
Slaves, had become an important class in the state ; and therefore 
it follows that Slaves, from whose ranks the Freedmen were sup- 
plied, must also have become numerous. 

These Freedmen were many of them wealthy ; but when a 
large number of Slaves were set free at once, as was sometimes 
the case on the death of their master, a number of indigent per- 
sons must have been left to their own resources : and thus it was 
that the new race of poor citizens arose, of whom we shall hear 
so much in the later period of our history under the name of the 
Populace of Rome, the factio forensis of the Roman writers. 

§ 6. We have called these Freedmen citizens. They were so ; 
but their citizenship was limited by this particular stigma, that 
they could only belong to one of the four City Tribes. Therefore, 
even if they formed a majority in thage four Tribes, they never 
could exercise much weight in the Comitia Tributa. For, since 
there were at present twenty-seven Rustic Tribes, the votes of 
the full Burgesses stood to those of the Freedmen in the proportion 
of more than six to one. But it was obvious that if these Freed- 
men were thrown into the Rustic Tribes, their single votes would 
gain great weight, and give much political power to any one who 
could command these votes. 

§ 7. It is not an unusual thing to find persons of high patri- 
cian blood associating themselves politically with the lowest 
orders rather than with the class immediately below them. 
The proud Patrician may find more complete submission in the 
one case than will be rendered in the other ; and the lower 
orders themselves are glad to find a leader among those whom 
historical association and ancient wealth connect with the 
highest order in the state. Such a combination was easy at 
Rome, because the elevation of the Plebeian order still rankled 
in the minds of many Patricians ; and it might have been ex- 
pected that there would not be wanting unscrupulous men of 
this class who would avail themselves of any means to recover 



220 KOME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. 

their exclusive privileges. Sucli a man appears at the present 
juncture. 

Appius Claudius, afterwards named Csecus or the Blind, was 
this man. He was descended from that proud Sabine family 
which in the earlier times of the Republic had for three gene- 
rations led the high Patrician party in their opposition to the 
claims of the Plebeians. But for nearly a century and a half, 
from the end of the Decemviral government to this period, the 
name of that great family disappears from the Annals. He was, 
as we have seen, devoid of military talent among a people where 
every man was more or less a soldier, and where every magis- 
trate was expected to be a general. But his abilities as a states- 
man must have been great. He is the first man of whom we 
hear as rising to high honours with this recommendation only to 
favour : his temper was determined, and his will inflexible. 

This eminent man first conceived the plan of creating a new 
party by means of the Freedmen, so as to neutralise the equality 
lately won by the Plebeians. The Patricians were as yet the 
chief slave-owners. The Freedmen were therefore chiefly attached 
to them, and whatever influence was conceded to them would 
probably be used, for a time at least, on the side of the Patricians, 
especially if the political boon conferred were conferred by the 
hand of a patrician statesman. 

§ 8. In 312 B.C., three years after the disastrous defeat sustained 
by Fabius at Lautulse, Appius was chosen Censor, together with 
the plebeian C. Plautius>» He was not Consul till five years 
later, a reversal of the usual order of office, which may be 
attributed to his want of military skill. One of the first duties 
of the Censor was to make up the list of the Senate. The com- 
mon practice was to leave all the old members on the list, unless 
any man had been guilty of some dishonourable act, and to fill 
up the vacancies by a regular rule, of which we shall speak here- 
after.* But Appius disdained all precedent, and called up into 
the Senate a number of persons devoted to himself, who had no 
claim to such a dignity. N^o doubt the chief slight was shown 
to the Plebeians, for L. Junius Bubulcus, who in the next year 
was Plebeian Consul for the third time, treated the list made out 
by Appius as null, and the Plebeian Censor, C. Plautius, resigned 
his office. The purpose of this resignation was to force Appius 
also to resign ; for it was the custom when by any cause a Cen- 
sor was deprived of his colleague, that he should lay down his 
office at once. But here again Appius defied precedent, and re- 
mained sole Censor. 

§ 9. He was now quite unfettered, and undertook the great 
* Chapt. XXXV. § 9. 



Chap. XXIV. CIYIL HISTORY DURING SAMNITE WARS. 221 

alteration to wliicli Ave liave before alluded. In revising the 
Census-register, or list of all who belonged to the Tribes, he 
allowed the Freedmen to be registered in the list of any Tribe 
they pleased, country as well as city. By this means, as we have 
said, the Freedmen's votes became available in every Tribe, in- 
stead of being confined to four. Moreover the Freedmen, being 
resident in Rome, were always present at the assemblies, whereas 
the country voters attended much less regularly, — a fact which 
gave to the Freedmen a power beyond their numerical propor- 
tion. It is not too much to assume that in this measure Appius 
had the interest of the Patrician party at heart rather than that 
of the Freedmen and Populace, whom he admitted to equality 
with the rest of the Burgesses. 

§ 10. The agent whom he employed in dealing with the popu- 
lace was one Cn. Flavins, the son of a freedman, who followed 
the calling of a public scrivener or notary (scriba), a class which 
in ancient times, when printing was unknown, was numerous 
and important. This man's name is best known in connexion 
with another matter, the publication of the forms and times to 
be observed in legal proceedings. Up to that time the Patri- 
cians had kept all the secrets of law in their own hands ; they 
alone knew which were the days when courts could be held and 
when they could not ;* they alone were in possession of those 
technical formularies according to which all actions must pro- 
ceed. But Flavius, probably by the help of his patron Appius, 
got possession of these secrets, and drew up a regular Calendar, 
in which the Dies Fasti and Nefasti were marked ; and this he 
set up in the forum, so that all might see it : he also published 
an authentic list of the formularies proper to be employed in 
the several kinds of action ; and thus, as Cicero says, " he picked 
out the crows' eyes."f 

§ 11. Soon after the admission of the Freedmen to the full 
citizenship, Flavius became a candidate for the Curule JEdile- 
ship. The Tribune presiding at the election said he could not 
take votes for a person who was engaged in trade ; upon which 
Flavius stepped forward and laid down his tablets and stile, the 
badges of his occupation, declaring that he would be a scrivener 
no longer. Then he was elected, to the great indignation of the 

* Originally the court days had been on the Nundinas, or one day in every 
week when the markets were held. But they were now held irregularly on 
the Dies Fasti, that is, on aU days which were not marked as Nefasti or Illicit 
in the secret calendar of the Pontiffs, as Ovid says : — 

lUe Nefastus erit, per quem tria verba silentur ; 
Fastus erit, per quem lege licebit agi. 
f " Scriba quidam, Cn, Flavius, qui cornicum oculos confixerit." — Cicero 
pro Murena, ch. 11. 



222 ROME OONQUEROE OF ITALY. Book HI. 

old citizens, wlio saw two of their own candidates, men of consular 
rank, rejected in favour of this Freedman's son. Flavins, how- 
ever, was no common man; he maintained his position with 
dignity, and was so struck with the evils that might result from 
continued disunion, that he vowed a shrine to Concord if the 
upper and lower classes could be reconciled. 

§ 12, We have seen that Appius remained sole Censor, and 
when he had held his office for eighteen months it was expected 
that he would lay it down, as ordered by the JEmilian law.* 
But he had no such intention. He had begun some great na- 
tional works, and determined to hold his office for the whole 
Lustrum, that is, for three and a half years longer. The works 
we speak of became and still remain famous as the Appian road 
and the Appian aqueduct. 

§ 13. The Appian Road is well known, even to those who have 
not visited Rome, by the amusing description which Horace has 
given of his journey along it. It led from Rome to Capua, 
passing through the Pontine marshes to Terracina, then skirted 
the seaward side of the Auruncan hills, so as to avoid the pass of 
Lautulse, and went on by way of Fundi, Formise, and Sinuessa to 
Capua. There had been a road this way before, which we have 
called the lower road to Capua. What Appius did was to straighten 
it, and make it fit for military purposes : its length was about 
120 miles. Some years later it was paved with large angular 
blocks of basalt or hard lava (silex) and long afterwards it was 
continued through Beneventum and the Samnite Apennines to 
Brundusium.f The Latin road, as the upper road to Capua was 
now called, left Rome by the same gate, the Porta Capena. 

The Appian Aqueduct (aqua Appia) was the first of these 
great works by which Rome was so abundantly supplied with 
water, to the shame of the great cities of modern times. But 
it did not resemble the Roman Aqueducts of later times — those 
long lines of arches with which every one is familiar. In those 
days enemies often penetrated even to the walls of Rome, and 
might easily have broken off" a raised Aqueduct. It passed under 
ground, except after it had entered the city, when it rose on a 
few arches near the Porta Capena :J thence it passed down into 

* See Chapt. xii. § 5. (3). 

f Part of it has recently been laid bare of the rubbish which had collected 
over it, and an interesting description of the discoveries made, with restora- 
tions, has been given by Canina, the well-known Roman antiquary. See the 
woodcut at the head of this Chapter. 

X " Substitit ad veteres areus madidamque Capenam." — Juven. iii. 11. 

From this it will appear that the common Roman practice of raising their 
aqueducts on high arches arose, not from ignorance of the fact that water 



Chap. XXIY. CIVIL HISTORY DURING SAMNITB WARS. 22a 

the lower parts of tlie city next the river, between the Capitol 
and the Aventine, where spring-water there was none. In this 
quarter dwelt those poorer classes whose favour Appius had 
otherwise endeavoured to gain. It may therefore be suspected 
that in this work "also he had a political end in view ; but how- 
ever this may be, every one will agree with the remark, that one 
must " feel unmixed pleasure in observing that the first Roman 
aqueduct was constructed for the benefit of the poor, and of 
those who most needed it."* 

§ 14. At the end of the fourth year of his Censorship Appius 
was elected Consul. He intended to have continued Censor for 
this year, but the Tribunes interfered with so much determina- 
tion that he deemed it prudent to resign his office, and content 
himself with the Consulship. He was Consul again ten years 
later (296 b.c), when Gellius Egnatius led his Samnites into Etru- 
ria, and the next year he was Prsetor : it was not long after this, 
probably, that he lost his sight. This deprivation was regarded 
as a punishment for his having advised the Patrician Gentes of 
the Potitii and Pinarii, who were hereditary priests of Hercules, 
to delegate their ministry to slaves, another evidence of the con- 
tempt of Appius for old customs. These Gentes, adds the legend, 
soon after ceased to exist. 

§ 15. During the whole of Appius' arbitrary Censorship the 
Senate and the old citizens behaved with marvellous self-control, 
and refrained from offering any direct opposition to his acts. 
But when the next Censors (of the year 30*7 b.c.) left office 
without attempt to restore the balance of power which Appius 
had destroyed, the Senate resolved that new Censors should 
be chosen for this purpose two and a half years before the 
proper time, and the choice of the people fell on Eome's two 
worthiest sons, Q. Fabius Maximus and P. Decius Mus. These 
two great men, who agreed heart and hand together, accepted 
the office, and applied a remedy simple but effectual. They did 
not, as some of the more violent might have wished, disenfran- 
chise the new citizens, but merely removed their names from the 
country Tribes and restored them to the four city Tribes, to 
which they had before belonged. Thus the new voters could only 
carry four Tribes, while there were twenty-nine in the hands 
of the old citizens. This measure was executed in the year 303 
B.C. Fabius and Decius saved the state as much by their firm- 
ness and moderation now as they did afterwards by the glorious 
victory of Sentinum. 

rises to its own level, but probably because they were not able to manufacture 
pipes of sufBcient magnitude for conveying very large streams. 
* Arnold, Hist, of Rome, ii. p. 289. 




The Island of the Tiber, 



CHAPTER XXV. 



EVENTS BETWEEN THE THIRD SAMNITE WAR AND THE LANDING OF 
PYRRHUS. (289 282 B.C.) 

§ 1. M' Ourius Dentatus: conquest ofUpper Sabines. § 2. Agrarian Law of 
Curius: Secession of poorer Citizens : Hortensian Laws. §3. Early inter- 
course of Eome with Greece Proper : tlie Snake of ^sculapius and Sacred 
Isle. § 4. Now brought into contact with Magna Grsecia and Sicily: 
retrospective view of their wealth and population. § 5. Syracuse. § 6. 
Other towns of Sicily: Rhegium occupied by Mamertines. § *l. Tarentum: 
her situation and people : practice of hiring foreign captains. § 8. Her 
treaty with Eome. § 9. She intrigues with Italian nations against Rome. 
§ 10. Thurii seek aid of Rome against Lucanians. § 11. General rising of 
Southern Italians, as also of Etruscans and Gauls : Prsetor Metellus cut off 
in Etruria. § 12. Consul Dolabella extirpates Senonians. § 13. Boian 
Gauls defeated in a great battle on Lake Vadimo : Colony of Sena GaUica. 
§ 14. Pabricius conducts war in South. § 15. Ten Roman ships are 
assaulted in harbour of Tarentum : sack of Thurii. § 16. Roman Envoys 
insulted : speech of L. Postumius. § IT. Hopes of peace frustrated by 
promised arrival of Pyrrhus. 

§ 1. Of the years whicli follow the Samnite wars little is 
known. The glowing pages of Livy desert us at this point, and 
from the end of the Samnite wars to the beginning of the great 



Chap. XXY. CONQUEST OP UPPER SABINES. 225 

war "witli Hannibal and the Carthaginians, a brief and naked 
epitome of each book is all that remains to us. For the cam- 
paigns of Pyrrhus Ave have Plutarch. But for the intervening 
years the materials are few and scanty. 

Immediately upon the final submission of the Samnites, in 
290 B.C., the Senate resolved to punish the Sabines for their 
suspicious conduct in listening to the overtures of Gellius 
Egnatius at the beginning of the late war, when the Marsians 
and their neighbours stood firm in their alliance.* The com- 
mander entrusted with the invasion of the difiicult country 
formed by the valleys of the highest Apennines, was M' Curius 
Dentatus, a name which may be counted among the most illus- 
trious in Roman history,f though we confess Avith regret that 
we know little of his life. He is said himself to have been of 
Sabine origin, — sprung from the Sabines of the lower country, no 
doubt, who had long been closely united with Rome.J We first 
hear of him as Tribune of the Plebs, when he stood forth as a 
defender of his order, and forced Appius Claudius, then presiding 
as interrex, to receive the votes of the Plebeians, which the 
Patricians wished to reject.|| He lived, like the old plebeian 
yeomen, on his own farm, and himself shared with his men the 
labours of the field. It is said that on one occasion the Samnites 
sent messengers to tempt him with costly presents of gold ; the 
messengers found him toasting radishes at the fire; and when 
he had heard their business, he pointed to his rude meal, and 
said — " Leave me my earthen pans, and let those who use gold 
be my subjects." His honesty and rough vigour of character 
recommended him to the Tribes, and notwithstanding his humble 
condition, he rose to the first ofiices of state. In the year 290 
B.C. he was elected Consul, and received the final submission 
of the Samnites. He then straightway turned his arms against 
the Sabines, who fell an easy prey. What surprises us is 
to hear that he took a very large booty, a quantity of gold, 
and other things, which sound strangely as the possessions of 
a tribe that dwelt in the upland valleys of the Apennines. The 
Sabines became now absolutely subject to Rome, being obliged 
to accept the citizenship without suff'rage, the burdens without 
the privileges. 

* Chapt. sxiii. § 7. 

f So thought Horace : — "Hunc, et incomtis Curium capillis 

S^va paupertas tulit, et Camillum," etc. 

And so Milton : — " Canst thou not remember 

Quinctius, Fabricius, Curius, Regulus?" 
X Chapt. xiii. § 1. 

II Sext. Aurelius Victor de Viris Illustr., c. xxxiii. 

10* 



226 EOME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book III. 

§ 2. After his double triumph, over the Samnites and Sabines, 
Curius proposed an Agrarian Law, providing that all the poorer 
citizens (these probably were for the most part the Freedmen and 
others lately admitted into the Tribes) should receive each man 
an allotment of seven jugera in the Sabine country.* This was 
vehemently opposed by the greater part of the old citizens, Ple- 
beians as well as Patricians, and the life of Curius was thought to 
be in so great danger, that eight hundred young men attached 
themselves to him as a body guard. 

The sequel of this strife cannot be unfolded. All we know is, 
that the poverty of the poor was aggravated by several years of 
famine and pestilence : at the same time debts again multiplied 
and became oppressive. The end of it was, that about the year 
286 B.C. the mass of the poorer citizens, consisting (as may be 
guessed) chiefly of those who had lately been enfranchised by 
Appius, left the city and encamped in an oak-wood upon the 
Janiculura.f To appease this last Secession, Q. Hortensius was 
named Dictator, and he succeeded in bringing back the people by 
allowing them to enact several laws upon the spot. One of these 
Hortensian laws was probably an extension of the Agrarian Law 
of Carius, granting not seven, but fourteen jugera (about 9 acres) 
to each of the poor citizens.^ Another provided for the reduc- 
tion of debt. But that which is best known as the Hortensian 
law was one enacting that all Resolutions of the Tribes should 
be law for the whole Roman people.]! This was nearly in the 
same terms as the law passed by Valerius and Horatius at the 
close of the Decemvirate, and that passed by Publilius Philo the 
Dictator, after the conquest of Latium.^ 

Hortensius died in his Dictatorship — an unparalleled event, 
which was considered ominous. Yet with his death ended the 
last Secession of the People. For one hundred and fifty years 
from this time to the appearance of the Gracchi, we hear of no 
civil dissensions at Rome. 

It may be here added, that on the allotment of the Sabine 
domain lands, Curius refused to take more than any other poor 
citizen. But it was decreed by acclamation that he should be 
rewarded by a gift of five hundred jugera (about 320 acres). And 
we shall find him acting with the same single-minded honesty 
ten years later in the war with Pyrrhus. 

* See Chapt. viii. § 3. 
\ In cesculeto, Plin. Hist. Nat., xvi. § 3*7. 

i Aurel. Victor says that Curius assigned fourteen jugera ; Pliny (H. N"., 
xviii. § 8) says seven. Tlie statement in the text attempts to reconcile the two. 
I " Quod Plebs jussisset, omnes Quirites teneret." 
TT Above, chapt. x. § 22, and chapt. xx. § 11. 



Chap. XXV. PESTILENCE AT ROME. 227 

§ 3. Notwithstanding tlie part played by Hellenic heroes in the 
earliest Roman Legends, the Romans had as yet had few dealings 
with the Greeks. The tale of Tarquin sending to consult the 
Oracle at Delphi, of the mission of the three men to procure the 
laws of Solon, of the answer of the Delphic Priestess with respect 
to the draining of the Alban Lake, are Legends of dubious 
authority, A story that Roman envoys appeared among the 
ambassadors of other Italian peoples at Alexander's court at Baby- 
lon, is rejected as false by Arrian, the most trustworthy historian 
of the great king. The next time we find Rome mentioned as 
having intercourse with Greece was soon after the close of the third 
Samnite war. Pestilence was raging at Rome ; and the Senate 
is said to have sent to Epidaurus, to request that JEsculapius 
(the tutelary god of that place) might come to avert the evil. 
The ambassadors returned with a sacred snake, the emblem of the 
god,'* who found his own way into their ship, and ensconced him- 
self in the cabin. When they arrived in the Tiber, the snake 
glided from the ship, and swimming to the land which lies 
between the Capitol and Aventine disappeared there. Here a 
temple was built to the Greek god of medicine. The island was 
shaped into the rude resemblance of a trireme, which it still bears, 
and to this day it is called by the name of the Sacred Isle (Isola 
Sacra) .f 

Such are the faint records of Rome's early intercourse with 
Greece Proper. 

§ 4. But there was another Greece, nearer home, with which 
she was soon to come in direct collision. In early times, when the 
name of Rome was yet unknown, the cities of Greece, especially 
the great Dorian city of Corinth, were sending out their superflu- 
ous population to seek settlements in the western worlds, Italy 
and Sicily were to them what North America has been to us. 
All the eastern and southern coasts of Sicily — all the coasts of 
Lower Italy, from the Bay of Naples to the promontory of lapygia, 
were thick-studded with Grecian Colonies, which had become 
large and flourishing cities when Rome was yet struggling for 
existence. The inhabitants of these Greek colonies were known 
by the names of Siceliotes and Italiotes,J to distinguish them from 
the native Siceli and Itali. The whole seaboard of Southern Italy 
received, and still retains, the appellation of Magna Grecia. 

* See the coin of Epidaurus at the end of this Chapter. 

f See the cut at the head of this Chapter. There is no doubt that tHs tem- 
ple was a Hospital, like other temples of ^sculapius. Its insular position 
might be chosen to avoid the noise of the thoroughfares, and to obtain fresher 
air than was possible in the close and crooked streets of the old city. 

:j: St/ceAtoiraf, 'Ira/ltwrat. 



228 ROME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book III. 

Hitherto the name of Rome had been unfeared and uncared for. 
The Greeks of Sicily were defended by the sea ; those of Italy by 
the barrier of hardy tribes which lay between them and their 
future mistress. But now this barrier was broken down. The 
brave Samnites had submitted after a struggle as noble as any 
which history has recorded. The Lucanians and Apulians had 
formed a league with Rome. Already had Palsepolis and 
Neapolis bowed before her. Any day the Consuls and their 
legions might be expected to knock at the gates of the southern 
cities. 

These cities, so famous in early time, had most of them fallen 
into decay. This had been caused in part by the inroads of the 
Oscan and Sabellian tribes (as above noticed),* in part by civil 
wars with one another, and by domestic convulsions in each. In 
Sicily especially, the Carthaginians were always dangerous ; and 
here, above all, the changes of Government were most frequent 
and most violent. Aristocracies were supplanted by turbulent 
democracies, and these gave way in turn to despotic rulers, who 
had been elevated in ancient times, or who had raised themselves 
by force or fraud to sovereign power. Such rulers were called 
Tyrants by the Greeks — a name which (as is well known) referred 
rather to the mode in which power was gained than to that in 
which it was exercised. In seditions and civil wars thousands and 
tens of thousands of citizens had fallen ; the prosperity of ancient 
cities had decayed ; cities themselves had perished. The vast 
remains of temples at Agrigentum, at Selinus, at Psestum, show 
what those cities must have been, where now not a house is left. 
Whole mounds of broken pottery cover the environs of Tarentum, 
and show what masses of men must have peopled those now deso- 
late shores. The series of coins due to this city is surpassed 
in beauty and variety of type only by those of Syracuse. 
Sybaris, the splendid and luxurious rival of Croton, was destroyed 
by the latter city. Croton herself, though supported by the old 
remembrance of her Pythagorean rulers, had fallen into insignifi- 
cance. Thurii, the chosen seat of the old age of Herodotus, and 
its neighbouring Metapontum, Locri, and Rhegium, still retained 
the vestiges of ancient grandeur. The most noted tyrant of Syra- 
cuse, Dionysius, was one of the chief causes of the decay of the 
Greek towns of Lower Italy. About the time that the Gauls 
were devastating Latium, he did not scruple to league himself 
Avith the barbarous Lucanians to establish a tyranny over his 
fellow-countrymen. And about a century later, Agathocles of 
Syracuse ravaged Lower Italy. Thus, by combined violence 

. * Chapt i. § 20. 



Chap. XXY. SYRACUSE. 229 

from many sources, the Hellenic communities both of Italy 
and Sicily, were fallen from their sometime magnificence. 
Tarentum and Syracuse remained, and a brief sketch of the 
previous history of these two places will illustrate the above 
remarks, and will serve to make the succeeding narrative in- 
telligible. 

§ 5. Syracuse was founded about the same time as Rome, by 
Archias, a noble Corinthian, who led forth a colony of his coun- 
trymen, to seek a new country in the far west. For many years 
the colony was governed (like the mother city) by a moderate 
aristocracy. This was interrupted by the princely tyranny of Gelo 
and his son Hiero, who held the sceptre of Syracuse at the time of 
the Persian wars from 485 to 467 b.c. The old republic was then 
restored till the invasion of the Athenians in 415, when it was 
supplanted by a violent democracy. This again was overthrown 
by the elder Dionysius in 406 ; but the sceptre which, after an 
active reign of thirty-eight years, he transmitted to his son, passed 
finally from that son's feebler grasp about the beginning of the 
Samnite wars. For twenty-six years the republic was restored, 
when in 317 another adventurer possessed himself of the throne. 
This was Agathocles, who began life as a potter's apprentice, and 
raised himself first by his personal strength and beauty of form, 
then by the continued exertion of an almost fabulous boldness. 
His reign terminated in 289, just as the third Samnite war had 
been concluded. A new king, Hiero IL, was called to the throne 
in 270, and it was in his reign that the Romans first set foot in 
Sicily. 

Of these sovereigns, it may be observed that the two last, 
Agathocles and Hiero, Avere no longer called Tyrants, but Kings. 
The former name had fallen into disuse after the splendid royalty 
of Alexander, whom no one, save Demosthenes and his republican 
followers, ventured to call by the name of Tyrant. Yet they had 
all risen by the same means, and held their power by the same 
tenure. Nor were any of them able to transmit the sceptre to a 
line of successors. They all rose to power, because the Republic 
needed a skilful captain to carry on the war against the Cartha- 
ginians. Gelo defeated the enemy in a great naval battle on the 
same day as the battle of Salamis. Dionysius I,, after being 
besieged in his capital, took Motye, the Calcutta of those merchant- 
princes, and established his rule over the greater part of Sicily. 
Agathocles carried fire and sword up to the gates of Carthage. 
More than once he landed in Italy for the purpose of defending 
the Tarentines from the Bruttians, their barbarous neighbours. 
Strange to say, the name of this remarkable man is not mentioned 
by the Roman historians. Yet, but for his perpetual Avars with 



230 ROME CONQUBEOE OP ITALY. Book IIL 

Carthage, he might have employed his restless arms in supporting 
the Samnites against Rome. 

§ 6. The other Greek cities of Sicily suffered similar vicissitudes. 
But we know little of them, nor is it important that we should. 
The state of one will serve to inform us of all. 

But before we leave Sicily, an event must be mentioned, which 
has no small influence on the subsequent history. A large portion 
of the army of Agathocles consisted of Italians, who called them- 
selves Mamertines, that is, servants of Mamers, or Mars. They 
were Campanian adventurers of Samnite origin, who took service 
with any government that would pay them. They chose their 
own captains, like the free troops led by the condottieri of the 
middle ages. On the death of Agathocles, a large body of these 
Mamertines seized Syracuse as a guarantee for the payment of 
their wages. On payment being made, they were induced to 
leave the city, and were marched to Messana, for the purpose 
of crossing into Italy. But finding this city an inviting prey, they 
seized it and became its lords ; and soon they established their 
power over a large portion of northern Sicily. Meanwhile, the 
Carthaginians recovered possession of the west of the islands. 
Syracuse and the other Greek cities retained a precarious 
independence. 

Hence it will appear that the Greek-Sicilian cities were in no 
case to help their brethren in Italy, should they be attacked by 
Eome. They could not defend themselves, much less render 
aid to others. 

§ v. Our attention is now claimed by Tarentum, the chief of the 
Greek-Italian cities. 

The origin of Lacedaemonian Tarentum is veiled in fable. The 
warriors of Sparta (so runs the well-known legend) went forth to 
the second Messenian war under a vow not to see their homes 
till they had conquered the enemy. They were long absent, and 
their wives sought paramours among the slaves and others who had 
not gone out to war. When the warriors returned, they found a 
large body of youth grown up from this adulterous intercourse. 
These youths, (the Parthenii, as they were called) disdaining 
subjection, quitted their native land under the command of 
Phalantus, one of their own body, and founded the colony of 
Tarentum. 

Whatever may be the truth of this legend, thus much is 
certain, that Tarentum was a Lacedaemonian colony of very great 
antiquity. Its history is little known. But what is known 
shows that the colony partook of the steady nature of her 
mother-city, and resisted those violent and frequent changes 
which were ''o rife in Syracuse and the other Greek cities of the 



Chap. XXV. TARENTUM. 231 

west. Tarentum lay at the northern corner of the great gulf 
which still bears its name. It had an excellent harbour, almost 
land-locked. On its eastern horn stood the city. Its form was 
triangular ; one side being washed by the open sea, the other by 
the waters of the harbour, while the base or land side was pro- 
tected by a line of strong fortifications. Thus advantageously 
posted for commerce the city grew apace. She possessed an 
opulent middle class ; and the poorer citizens found an easy sub- 
sistence in the abundant supply of fish which the gulf afforded. 
These native fishermen were always ready to man the navy of 
the state. But they made indifferent soldiers. Therefore when 
any peril of war threatened the state, it was the practice of the 
government to hire foreign captains, soldiers of fortune, who 
were often kings or princes, to bring an army for their defence. 
Thus we find them taking into their service Archidamus of 
Sparta and Alexander of Molossus,* to defend them against the 
Lucanians. So also, after the second Samnite war, when they 
began to fear the power of Eome, they engaged the services of 
Cleonymus Prince of Sparta to fight their battles. They called in 
Agathocles of Syracuse to war against the Bruttians. And last of 
all, when they came into actual conflict with Rome, they put them- 
selves under the protection of Pyrrhus, as we shall presently have 
to narrate. 

It was probably this practice of hiring foreign aiTuies for their 
wars which saved them from the domination of successive tyrants ; 
for at Syracuse, as we have seen, these tyrants were citizens who 
had raised themselves by means of the military power with which 
they had been invested. However, this practice had many evils. 
The city learnt every day to trust more to strangers and less to the 
energies of her own citizens ; and the foreign captains whose aid 
she sought often proved mere buccaneers, who plundered and ruined 
friendly Greeks as well as hostile barbarians. Such was the con- 
duct of Cleonymus towards Metapontum and Thurii, of Agathocles 
towards Locri and Rhegium. 

Yet on the whole the government of Tarentum was better and 
more regular than that of most Greek Republics. Seven times was 
Archytas, the Pythagorean Philosopher, raised to the supreme 
magistracy, — that Archytas who has been mentioned above as the 
friend of Herennius the Samnite, and instructor of C. Pontius.f 
This shows that the Tarentines could value duly the merits of this 
great man, without that jealousy which in many Greek states pre- 
vented the people from reaping the full service of their best and 
wisest citizens. 

* Chapt. xxi. § 3. f Chapt. xxii. § 5. 



232 ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book IIL 

This brief sketch of the state of Sicily and Magna Grsecia will 
have shown that of all the Greek cities, lately so great and power- 
ful, Tarentum alone was in a condition to cope with Rome. 

§ 8. Once already they had been engaged in brief hostilities : this 
Was at the close of the second Samnite war, when the Romans 
lent aid to the Lucanians in attacking the Sallentines. This last- 
named people were neighbours of Tarentum, and the Greek 
republic, willing to defend them, called in the aid of Cleonymus, as 
has been just mentioned. The appearance of this soldier of fortune 
inclined the Lucanians to peace, and at the same time no doubt 
was made the treaty between Rome and the Tarentines by which 
certain limits were prescribed to the fleets of the latter power, 
while the Romans on their part bound themselves not to pass the 
temple of Lacinian Juno, nor let any ships of theirs appear in the 
Gulf of Tarentum, 

§ 9. After this followed the third Samnite war. At its close it 
seemed clear that Rome was to be, if she was not already, mistress 
of Italy. What power could withstand her ? Tarentum must now 
meet Rome ,fece to face, and must decide whether they should 
meet as friendoffoe. She chose the latter. For the next few years 
we find various nations of Italy, the Etruscans and Gauls in the 
north", the Lucanians and other barbarians in the south, renewing 
war with Rome, and finally crushed by her energy. These last 
struggles are attributed to the intrigues of Tarentum, and when 
they availed not, she at length threw herself into the gap, and 
called in Pyrrhus, the greatest general of the age, to fight the 
battles of the Greeks against Rome. 

§ 10. The first link in the chain of events which led to the war 
with Tarentum was (curiously enough) the aid lent by Rome to a 
neighbouring Greek city. This was Thurii. Soon after the close 
of the third Samnite war Thurii was attacked by the Lucanians. 
The Thurians knew that Tarentum would not defend them. Some 
years before, when Cleonymus of Sparta inade a descent upon 
their coast and took their city, they had implored, the aid of 
Roman legions, which came too late indeed, but yet came, and 
Thurii now hoped for more eff"ectual succour. But at this time the 
domestic struggle was going on which ended in the Hortensian 
law. Soon after quiet was restored, the Tribune ^lius proposed, 
and the people voted, to declare war against the Lucanians, 
(284 B.C.). 

§ 11. This declaration of war was followed by a general rising 
of the Italian nations against Rome. The Lucanians, lately her 
allies, now her enemies, were joined by the Bruttians, part of the 
Apulians, and even by some relics of the Samnites. But the 
attention of the Senate was diverted from this southern war by 



Graf. XXV. EXTIRPATION OF SENONIANS. 233 

more imminent peril in the nortli. Early in the year 283 b.c. 
news came that the Etruscans of Vulsinii, who had been for the 
last twenty years engaged in feeble and uncertain war against 
Kome, had roused the other states of Northern Etruria to make 
a joint attack upon Arretium, "which, under the rule of the 
friendly Cilnii, remained faithful to Eome. They had summoned 
to their aid an army of Senonian Gauls from the coasts of Um- 
bria, and these Celtic barbarians, though at peace with Rome, 
came eager for plunder, and burning to. avenge their defeat at 
the battle of Sentinum. Q. Csecilius Metellus, the Consul of the 
last year, and now Praetor, was ordered to march to the relief of 
Arretium, while the new Consuls, P. Cornelius Dolabella and Cn. 
Domitius, prepared to crush the Etruscan war. But what was the 
consternation at Rome when tidings came that Metellus had been 
utterly defeated, himself slain, and his whole army cut to pieces or 
made prisoners. 

§ 12. The Senate, nothing daunted, ordered the Consul Dola- 
bella to advance, while Domitius, with M' Curius the Praetor, re- 
mained in reserve. Meanwhile they sent the Fecials into Umbria 
to complain of the breach of faith committed by the Senonian 
Gauls. But it happened that in the battle with Metellus, Brito- 
maris the Gallic chief had fallen, and the young chief, his son, 
burning with mad desire of vengeance, committed another and a 
worse breach of faith : he murdered the sacred envoys .in cold 
blood. As soon as the news of this outrage reached the Consul 
Dolabella, he promptly changed his plan. Instead of marching 
towards Arretium he turned to the right, and crossing the Apen- 
nines descended into the Senonian country. This he found 
almost defenceless, for the warriors were absent in Etruria. He 
took a bloody revenge, ravaging the country, burning the dwell- 
ings, slaying the old men, enslaving the women and children. 
The Celtic warriors hastily returned to defend their homes, but 
in vain ; they sustained a complete defeat, and " the race of the 
Senonians was annihilated."* Such is the brief and terrible 
epitome of their fate. 

§ 13. The work of death was not yet done. The Boian Gauls, 
who lived along the southern bank of the Po, from the Trebia to 
the Rubicon, seized their arms and marched southwards to assist 
or avenge their brethren. They overtook the Consul Dolabella 
on the Tiber at its junction with the Nar, but not till after he had 
been joined by his colleague Domitius. The battle was fought on 
the right bank of the Tiber, near the little lake Vadimo. It was 
a fierce conflict, the most terrible probably which the Romans 

* " Gens Senonui* deleta est." — Liv. 



234 EOME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. 

had fought since the battle of Sentinum. But the legionaries 
had become used to the huge bodies, strange arms, and savage 
cries of the Celtic barbarians ; and their victory was complete. 
Once more, hov?ever, the Boians made a desperate rally, and were 
again defeated. 

These great successes kept the Celtic tribes of Northern Italy 
quiet for nearly sixty years. Meanwhile the Senate secured the 
frontier of Umbria and occupied the vacant lands of the Senonians 
by the Colony of Sena Gallica, which, under the name of Senigaglia, 
still preserves the memory of its Celtic possessors. 

§ 14. Meanwhile the war had been going on feebly in Lucania; 
but these prompt and successful operations in the north enabled 
the Senate to prosecute it more energetically ; and in the year 
282 B.C. the Consul of the year, C. Fabricius Luscinus, a remark- 
able man, of whom we shall have more to say presently, defeated 
the confederates in several actions, and finally compelled them to 
raise the siege of Thurii. The Eoman army was withdrawn, but 
a garrison was left to defend the city ; and the grateful people de- 
dicated a statue to their deliverers, the first honour paid by Greeks 
to their future masters. 

§ 15. It was believed at Rome, and not without reason, that 
the Tarentines, though they had not themselves drawn the sword, 
had been the secret instigators of these wars, both in Lucania 
and Etruria. The Senate therefore determined to pay no atten- 
tion to the treaty, by which Roman ships were forbidden to 
appear in the bay of Tarentum ; and on the withdrawal of the 
army of Fabricius, L. Valerius, one of the duumviri navales,* 
sailed round the Lacinian headland, and with ten ships stood 
across the gulf towards Tarentum. It was a summer noon, and 
the people were assembled in their theatre, which (as was com- 
mon in Greek cities) was used alike for purposes of business and 
pleasure.f This theatre was cut out of the side of the hill look- 
ing towards the sea, and commanded a view of the whole bay. 
The whole assembly therefore saw the treaty violated before their 
eyes, and lent a ready ear to a demagogue named Philocharis, 
who rose and exhorted them to take summary vengeance. The 
people, seamen by habit, rushed down to the harbour, manned a 
number of ships and gained an easy victory over the little Roman 
squadron. Four ships were sunk, one taken, and Valerius him- 

* This office was abolished not long after. In the Punic and subsequent 
wars the Consuls and Praators commanded both the armies and fleets indiffer- 
ently, as was the case in all modern European countries till the close of the 
Itth century. 

f Compare the assembly in the theatre at Ephesus to hear the complaint of 
the silver-workers against the Christianfe. — ^Acts six. 29. 



Chap. XXV, L. POSTUMIUS AT TAEBNTUM. 235 

self "svas killed. The die was now cast, and tlie demagogues 
pushed the people to farther outrages. They marched forth to 
Thui'ii, and, accusing that people of seeking aid from the barba- 
rians, required the instant dismissal of the Roman garrison. 
This was done, and no sooner was it done than the Tarentine 
populace plundered the unfortunate city and drove its chief citizens 
into exile. 

§ 16. The Senate, unwilling to undertake a new war, in which 
their coasts might be ravaged by the superior navy of the Taren- 
tines, sent an embassy, headed by L. Postumius, to require some 
explanation of this outrageous conduct. They knew that the 
wealthier citizens of Tarentum were as averse from war as them- 
selves, and hoped that by this time the people might be inclined 
to hear the voice of reason. But unfortunately the ambassadors 
arrived at the season of the Dionysia, when the whole people, 
given up to wine and revelry, were again collected in the theatre. 
The Roman envoys were led straight into the orchestra, and 
ordered to state the purpose of their mission. When Postumius 
endeavoured to do so, his bad Greek produced peals of laughter 
from the thoughtless populace. He bore all patiently till a 
drunken buffoon ran up and defiled his white toga with ordure. 
This produced fresh laughter and loud applause, which was again 
renewed, when Postumius held up the sullied robe in the sight 
of all, " Aye," said he, " laugh on now : but this robe of mine 
shall remain uncleansed till it is washed in your best blood !" 

§ 17. Yet even after these gross insults the Roman People was 
so weary of war that the Senate debated long before they ordered 
L. ^milius Barbula, the Consul of the year 281 b.c, to march 
southward, while his colleague covered the Etruscan frontier. 
./Etnilius was instructed to ravage the lands of the democratic 
party, and to spare the property of those citizens who wished to 
maintain peace ; and so successful was this policy, that the 
demagogues lost their power, and Agis or Apis, the chief of the 
moderate party, was chosen strategus. And now there was good 
hope that some satisfaction would be offered for the outrages 
committed against the Romans and their allies, and that peace 
might be maintained : but this hope Avas soon frustrated. Early 
in the year the chiefs of the democratic party had sent to invite 
Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, to bring over an army and undertake 
the defence of Tarentum. These Tarentine envoys were accom- 
panied by ambassadors from the Lucanians and Samnites, with 
large promises of soldiers to recruit his army and provisions to 
feed them. Pyrrhus needed no great persuasion to undertake a 
romantic enterprise, and he forthwith despatched Milo, one of 
his best officers, with 3000 men, to garrison the citadel of 



236 



ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. 



Book III. 



Tarentum. The arrival of Milo restored the democratic party 
to power. Agis was deprived of his office : the Roman Consul 
I'etired into Apulia, and fixed his head-quarters at the colony of 
Venusia. 

Pyrrhus was now expected every day, and the Tarentine popu- 
lace gave themselves up to immoderate joy. " Aye, dance and 
sing, while ye may," said one of their graver citizens ; " there will 
be something else to do when Pyrrhus comes." 

He did not arrive till winter, and before we speat of his opera- 
tions, it will be necessary to give some account of his life and 
character. 




Coin of Epidaurua 




Coia of Pyrrhus with head of Dodonean Zeus. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

PYRRHUS IN ITALY. (280 2*75 B.C.) 

§ 1. Adventurous youth of Pyrrhus, King of Bpirus : lust of conquest. § 2. 
Arrives at Tarentum : stern discipline. § 3. Preparations of Komans : 
comparison of forces. § 4. Pyrrhus meets Eomans on Siris : battle of 
Heraclea. § 5. Remarks of Pyrrhus after victory § 6. Locri joins 
Pyrrhus: Rhegium seized by Campanian captain, Decius JubeUius : disap- 
pointment of Pyrrhus. § T. Mission of Cineas to Rome : patriotic speech 
of App. Claudius. § 8. Report of Cineas : Pyrrhus marches into Latium, 
but Rome remains firm. § 9. Embassy of Fabricius during winter. § 10. 
Second campaign: Battle of Asculum in Apuha : Pyrrhus inchned to Peace. 
§ 11. Consuls of the next year warn him of his physician's treachery : 
Pyrrhus restores prisoners and departs for Sicily. § 12. His fortunes in 
Sicily. § 13. Returns to Italy in third year. § 14. M' Curius, the Consul, 
compels Romans to enhst. § 15. Battle of Beneventum : defeat of Pyrrhus. 
§ 16. After fate of Pyrrhus. 

§ 1. Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, when he landed in Italy, was in 
his thirty-eighth year. His whole early life had been a series of 
adventure and peril. His father's name was ^acidas, a kinsman 
of that Alexander of Molossus, who, some fifty years before, had 
been invited by the Tarentines to defend them against the 
Lucanians.* When Alexander fell at Pandosia, -^acidas seized 
the throne of the Molossians. But he did not long retain it. 
* Chapt. xxi. § 3. 



238 ROME OONQUBROB, OP ITALY. Book III. 

For soon after followed the death of Alexander the Great at 
Babylon (323 B.C.), and the whole of his vast empire was broken 
up into separate kingdoms, which became the appanages of his 
generals. Cassander obtained Macedon, first as Regent, after- 
wards as king. But Olympias, the mother of the great Alexander, 
raised a faction against him, and ^acidas took her part. After 
some years of conflict, u^acidas fell in battle (313 b.c.) and by 
order of the ruthless Cassander all his family were massacred 
except Pyrrhus, who was then a child of about five years old. 
The boy was carried off secretly, and found safe harbourage with 
Glaucias, an Illyrian chief. In this obscure retreat he remained 
till he had reached the age of twelve or thirteen years, when his 
foster-father took advantage of disturbances in Macedon to 
restore his young charge to the throne of Epirus. But Cassander 
again triumphed over opposition, and prevailed upon the Epi- 
rotes to expel the young prince. Pyrrhus, now about seventeen 
years old, sought refuge at the court of Antigonus, the Macedonian 
king of Syria. Here he formed a friendship with the king's son, 
the celebrated Demetrius Poliorcetes. But the ambition of the 
Syrian princes provoked the other Macedonian monarchs to 
form a league against them ; and the bloody field of Ipsus (301 
B.C.) deprived Antigonus of his life, and Demetrius of his suc- 
cession. Pyrrhus was present at the battle. On the defeat of 
his friend Demetrius, he offered himself as a hostage for him, 
and was so received at the magnificent court of Ptolemy Soter, 
the first Macedonian king of Egypt. Here he had opportu- 
nities of completing the education which the friendship of Deme- 
trius had offered him. Ptolemy was one of the best of Alexander's 
ofiicers ; and himself, with his son Philadelphus, did all that lay 
in their power to encourage the cultivation of Greek arts and 
letters. Pyrrhus found favour with the queen Berenice, who gave 
him in marriage Antigone, her daughter by a former marriage, 
and persuaded Ptolemy to assist him in recovering his Epirote 
sovereignty. J'or some time he reigned conjointly with Neop- 
tolemus, son of that Alexander who had been killed in Italy. 
But, as was to be expected, the two sovereigns broke out into 
quarrels, which ended in the death of Neoptolemus (295 B.C.), so 
that Pyrrhus, now about twenty-three years of age, became sole 
monarch. In that same year Cassander died, and a war arose 
about the succession to the throne of Macedon. At length De- 
metrius, who had long been an outcast and a wanderer, gained 
possession of the Macedonian throne. But Pyrrhus thought his 
own claims better than those of his old friend, and joined a general 
league against him. In 287 b.c. Demetrius was overthrown ; and 
while Lysimachus took possession of the eastern part of Macedon, 



Ch-^jp. XXVI. PYRRHUS IN ITALY. 239 

the western provinces were ceded to the young and enterprising 
sovereign of Epirus. But Pyrrhus did not long retain this much- 
coveted prize. The Macedonians preferred Lysimachus as their 
king ; and, after a seven months' reign, Pyrrhus was again driven 
across the mountains into Epirus (b.c. 287). For the next few 
years he lived at peace ; built Ambracia as a new capital of his 
dominions, and reigned there in security and magnificence. He 
was in the prime of life, handsome in person, happy in temper, 
popular from his frankness and generosity, and reputed to be a 
skilful soldier. But neither his nature nor his restless youth 
had fitted him for the enjoyment of happy tranquillity. He had 
married as his second wife the daughter of Agathocles of Syra- 
cuse ; the exploits of that remarkable man fired his soul ; he 
remembered that Alcibiades, that Alexander, that every Greek 
conqueror had looked to the West as a new scene for enter- 
prise and triumph ; and he lent a ready ear to the solicitations 
of the Italian envoys. After defeating the Romans and Cartha- 
ginians, he might return as king of Southern Italy and Sicily, 
and dictate terms to the exhausted monarchs of Macedon and 
Asia. These had been the dreams of less romantic persons than 
himself. 

§ 2. It-Avas at the end of the year 281 b.c. that he left Epirus 
with a force of about 20,000 foot, and 4000 or 5000 horse, together 
with a squadron of 20 elephants, held by the Greeks of that time 
to be a necessary part of a complete armament. On the passage 
his ships were scattered by a storm, but eventually they all 
reached Tarentum in safety. His infantry was in part supplied by 
Ptolemy Ceraunus, the new King of Macedon. His cavalry were 
Thessalian, the best in Greece. It wjas a small army for the execu- 
tion of designs so vast. But he trusted to the promises of the 
Lucanians and Samnites ; and he also intended to make the 
Tarentines into soldiers. No sooner had he landed than this 
people found how true were the words of their fellow-citizen. 
They had meant him to fight their battles, like his kinsman, 
Alexander of Molossus ; but he resolved that they also should 
fight his battles. He shut up the theatres and other places of 
public amusement ; closed the democratic clubs ; put some dema- 
gogues to death, and banished others ; and ordered all citizens of 
military age to be drilled for the phalanx. The indolent popu- 
lace murmured, but in vain. The horse had taken a rider on his 
back to avenge him on the stag, and it was no longer possible to 
shake him off. 

§ 3. With the early spring the Romans took the field. Ti. 
Coruncanius, plebeian Consul for the year 280, commanded against 
the Etrurians, with orders to make a peace if possible. P. Valerius 



240 ROME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book ni. 

Lgevinus, his patrician colleague, was to march through. Lucania, 
so as to prevent the Lucanians from joining the king ; while 
ySmilius, Consul of the former year, was stationed at Venusia, to 
hold the Samnites and Apulians in check. A Campanian legion, 
composed of Mamertines, commanded by Decius Jubellius, an 
officer of their own choosing, occupied Ehegium, in order (we may 
suppose) to intercept communication from Sicily. 

The army with which Pyrrhus advanced along the coast of the 
Bay of Tarentum, to encounter Lsevinus, is said to have been 
inferior to that of the Consul. It must be supposed that the 
latter had not only his own two legions, but also a third legion, 
under the command of a Prsetor. These three, together with 
the allies, would amount to about 30,000 foot, and the cavalry 
might be 4000. But this arm was in quality very inferior to the 
Thessalian horse of the king ; and when we take the elephants 
into account, it is difficult to understand how Pyrrhus' army, 
which must have been increased by Tarentine levies, though none 
of the Italians had yet joined, could have been inferior to that of 
the Romans, It is rather matter of wonder that the Senate 
ehould not have sent both Consuls against so formidable an 
antagonist, relying on a praetorian army to keep the Etruscans in 
check. 

§ 4. As the king moved along the coast from Heraclea he came 
in view of the Roman army, encamped on the right bank of the' 
little river Siris. His practised eye was at once struck by the 
military order of the enemy's camp. And when he saw them 
cross the broad but shallow stream in the face of his own army, 
and form their line before he could close with them, he remarked, 
" In war, at least, these barbarians are no way barbarous." 

And now for the first time the Roman Legions had to stand 
the shock of the Greek Phalanx. The tactics of the two armies 
Avere wholly different. The Roman army had undergone no 
essential change since we had occasion to describe its order in 
the great Latin war.* Each soldier stood free of his right and 
left hand man. "When all had discharged their pila they then 
came to close quarters with their short strong swords, and large 
oblong shields, each man fighting separately. But the Epirots 
formed two great columns, called the Phalanxes, in which each 
man stood close to his fellow, so that half his body was covered 
by his right-hand man's shield. They were drawn up sixteen 
deep, and their long pikes, called sarissse, bristled so thickly in 
front, that the line was impenetrable unless a gap could be made 
in the front ranks. They acted mechanically, by weight. If 

* Chapt XX. § 5. 



Chap. XXVI. PYERHUS IN ITALY. 241 

they "were once broken tliey were almost defenceless. Level 
ground, tlierefore, was necessary to their effective action, 

Pyrrhus had secured this last-named advantage : the jDlain of 
Heraclea was well adapted for the regular movement of the 
phalanxes, as Avell as for that of his cavalry and elephants. The 
action began by the Eoman cavalry crossing the Siris, and driving 
back a squadron of the Thessalian horse, the remainder of which, 
with the elephants, were yet in rear. The main body of the 
Romans, inspirited by this success, followed across the bed of the 
river to assail the phalanxes. But they could make no impres- 
sion on these solid masses ; the Principes took the place of the 
Hastati, and the Triarii succeeded to the Principes, in vain, Lasvi- 
nus then ordered up his cavalry to attack the phalanxes in flank. 
But they were met by the whole body of Thessalian horse, sup- 
ported by the elephants. The Romans had never before seen 
these monstrous animals, which in their ignorance they called 
" Lucanian oxen :" their horses would not face them, and galloped 
back affrighted among the infantry, Pyrrhus now led the whole 
line forward, and the rout was general. The Romans were driven 
back across the Siris, and did not attempt to defend their camp. 
Yet they soon rallied, and retired in good order into Apulia, 
where Yenusia was ready to receive them. It was now seen with 
what judgment the Senate had occupied that place with a large 
Colony, 

§ 5, The victory of Heraclea was gained at a heavy loss. Pyrr- 
hus now rightly estimated the task he had undertaken. He had a 
soldier's eye. When he visited the field of battle next day, and 
saw every Roman corpse with its wounds in front, he exclaimed : 
" If these were my soldiers, or if I were their general, we should 
conquer the world." When he offered in the temple of Jove at 
Tarentum a portion of the spoils taken after the battle, he placed 
on them the following inscription : — 

" Those who had ne'er been vanquished yet, great Father of Olympus, 
Those have I vanquished in the fight, and they have vanquished me."* 

And when he was asked why he spoke thus, he answered: 
" Another victory like this will send me without a man back to 
Epirus." 

§ 6. The battle of Heraclea, however, encouraged the Greek 
cities of Locri and Rhegium to throw off" the Roman yoke. 
Locri joined Pyrrhus ; but Decius Jubellius, with his Campanian 
soldiers, declared themselves independent, and seized Rhegium 

* The lines quoted by Orosius, iv. 1, are, no doubt, those of Ennius, a 
translation of the original Greek : — 

" Qui ante hac invicti fuere viri. Pater 6ptime Olympi, 
Hos ego in pugna vici * *, victusque sum ab isdem." 
11 



242 ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. 

for themselves, as their brethren the Mamertines had seized Mes- 
sana on the opposite side of the straits. But, above all, the battle 
of Heraclea left the ground open for the Lucanians and Samnites 
to join the king ; and he advanced into Samnium to claim • the 
fulfilment of their promises. But as he advanced he was struck 
by the fewness of the men, and the desolate condition of the whole 
country; and he bitterly reproached the Italians with deceiving 
him. The battle which had just been fought taught him how for- 
midable was the foe he had to deal with, and what he now saw 
showed him how much he must trust to his own resources. He 
resolved therefore to end the war at once by negotiating an advan- 
tageous peace, while he himself advanced slowly to support his 
negotiations by the show of force. 

§ 7. The person employed in this negotiation was Cineas, a 
name only less remarkable than that of Pyrrhus himself. He was 
a Thessalian Greek, famous for his eloquence, but still more 
famous for his diplomatic skill. He served Pyrrhus as minister at 
home and ambassador abroad. " The tongue of Cineas," Pyrrhus 
used to say, "had won him more battles than his own sword." 
So quick was his perception, and so excellent his memory, that 
he had hardly arrived in Rome when he could call every Senator 
by his name, and address every one according to his character. 
The terms he had to offer were stringent ; for Pyrrhus required 
that all Greek cities should be left free, and that all the places that 
had been taken from the Samnites, Apulians, and his other allies, 
should be restored. Yet the skill of Cineas would have persuaded 
the Senate to submit to these terms if it had not been for one man. 
This was Appius Claudius the Censor. He was now in extreme 
old age ; he had been blind for many years, and had long ceased 
to take part in public affairs. But now, when he heard of the 
proposed surrender, he caused himself to be conducted to the 
senate-house by his four sons and his five sons-in-law, and there, 
with the authoritative eloquence of an oracle, he confirmed the 
Avavering spirits of the Fathers, and dictated the only answer 
worthy of Rome, — that she would not treat of peace with Pyrrhus 
till he had quitted the shores of Italy. The dying patriotism of 
Appius covers the multitude of arbitrary acts of which he Avas 
guilty in his Censorship. 

§ 8. Cineas returned to Pyrrhus, baffled and Avithout hope. 
He told his master, that " to fight with the Roman People was 
like fighting Avith the hydra ;" he declared that " the City was as 
a temple of the gods, and the Senate an assembly of kings." But 
the king resolved to try Avhat effect might be produced by the 
presence of his army in Latium. He passed rapidly through 
Campania, leaving it to be plundered by the Samnites, and ad- 



Chap. XXVL PYERHUS IN ITALY. 243 

vanced upon Rome by the upper or Latin road. He took the 
colony of Fregellse by storm ; he received the willing submis- 
sion of Anaguia, the capital of the Hernicans, and Avas admitted 
into the impregnable citadel of Praeneste, for both the Hernicans 
and the Prsenestines were only half Roman citizens ; they bore 
the burthens without enjoying the privileges, and were therefore 
glad to welcome a chance of liberty. He then advanced six 
miles beyond Prseneste, within eighteen miles of Rome. But 
here his course was stayed. There were no signs of defection 
among the bulk of the Latins, or Volscians, or Campanians, who 
had been admitted into the Tribes and enjoyed the full honours 
of Roman citizenship. Ti. Coruncanius, afterwards Chief Pontiff, 
and now Consul, was himself a Latin of Tusculum, What he 
had now gained all might hope for. 

The situation of Pyrrhus now became perilous. Coruncanius 
himself had just concluded a peace with the Etruscans, and his 
army was free to act in front of Rome ; Lsevinus had recruited 
his shattered army and was coming up in rear ; his own army 
was, except the Epirotes, ill-disciplined and disorderly, and he 
therefore determined to close the campaign and retire into win- 
ter quarters at Tarentum. 

§ 9. This winter is famous for the embassy of C, Fabricius, who 
was sent by the Senate with two other Consulars to propose an 
interchange of prisoners. The character and habits of Fabricius 
resembled those of Curius. He lived in frugal simplicity upon his 
own farm, and was honoured by his countrymen for his inflexible 
uprightness. He was somewhat younger than Curius, and seems 
to have been less rough in manners and more gentle in dispo- 
sition. The stories are well known which tell how Pyrrhus 
practised upon his cupidity by offering him gold, and upon his 
fears by concealing an elephant behind the curtains of the royal 
tent, which, upon a given signal, waved its trunk over his head ; 
and how Fabricius calmly refused the bribe, and looked with un- 
moved eye upon the threatening monster. Pyrrhus, it is said, 
so admired the bearing of the Roman that he wished him to 
enter into his service like Cineas, an offer which, to a Roman 
ear, could convey nothing but insult. He refused to give up 
any Roman citizens whom he had taken, unless the Senate would 
make peace upon the terms proposed through Cineas : but he 
gave his prisoners leave to return home in the month of De- 
cember to partake in the joviality of the Saturnalia, if they 
would pledge their word of honour to return. His confidence 
was not misplaced. The prisoners used every effort to procure 
peace; but the Senate remained firm, and ordered every man, under 
penalty of death, to return to Tarentum by the appointed day. 



244 ROME CONQUEEOR OE ITALY. Book HI. 

§ 10. Hostilities were renewed next year, Tlie new Consuls 
were P. Sulpicius for the Patricians, and P. Decius Mus,, son and 
grandson of those illustrious Plebeians who bore the same name, 
and had devoted themselves to death beneath Vesuvius and at 
Sentinum. Since peace was now concluded with the Etrus- 
cans, both Consuls led their armies into Apulia, where Pyrrhus 
had already taken the field. He was anxious to make himself 
master of the Colonies of Venusia and Luceria, so that the 
Romans might be forced to quit that country and leave him 
master of all Southern Italy. But he failed. We are ignorant 
of the details of the campaign till we find the Consuls strongly 
encamped on the hills which command the plain of Apulian 
Asculum.* Here Pyrrhus encountered them. After some 
skilful manoeuvring he drew the Romans down into the plain, 
where his phalanx and cavalry could act freely. He placed 
the Tarentines in the centre, the Italian allies on his left wing, 
and his Epirotes and Macedonians in phalanx on the right ; his 
cavalry and elephants he kept in reserve. "What success the 
Roman Legions had against the Tarentines and Italians we know 
not, but they wasted their strength upon the phalanxes. Again 
and again they charged that iron wall with unavailing bravery. 
At length, when they were well nigh exhausted, Pyrrhus brought 
up his cavalry and elephants, as at Heraclea, and the Romans 
were broken. But this time they made good their retreat to 
their entrenched camp, and Pyrrhus did not think it prudent to 
pursue them. He had little confidence in his Italian allies, who 
hated the Greeks even more than they hated the Romans, and 
gave signal proof of their perfidy by plundering the king's camp 
Avhile he was in action. The loss on both sides was heavy. The 
second victory was now won ; but the king's saying was fast 
being fulfilled. In these two battles he had lost many of his 
chief officers and a great number of the Epirotes, the only troops 
on whom he could rely. He dared not advance. 

When he returned to Tarentum news awaited him which dis- 
pirited him still more. The Romans, he heard, had concluded a 
defensive alliance with Carthage, so that the superiority of Taren- 
tum at sea would be lost ;f Ptolemy Ceraunus, who had pro- 
mised him fresh troops from Macedon, had been slain by the 
Gauls, and these barbarians were threatening to overrun the 
whole of Greece.J 

§ 11. Under these circumstances he seized the first occasion 
of making peace with Rome. This was aff"orded early in the 

* Otherwise called Apulum, now Ascoli di Satriano. This town must not 
be confounded with Asculum (Ascoli) in Picenum. 

f Polyb. iii. 25. X ^^^ above, Chapt. xiv. § 3. 



Chap. XXVI. PYRRHUS IN ITALY. 245 

next year by a communication lie received from tne new Consuls 
Q. ^milius and C. Fabricius. They sent to give bim notice 
that bis pbysician or cup-bearer (tbe accounts vary) bad offered 
to take bim off by poison. Pyrrbus returned his warmest 
thanks, sent back all his prisoners fresh-clothed and without 
ransom, and told his allies he should accept an invitation he had 
just received to take the command of a Sicilian-Greek army 
against tbe Carthaginians and Mamertines. Accordingly he sailed 
from Locri to Sicily, evading the Carthaginian fleet which had 
been lying in wait for him. He left tbe Italians to tbe mercy of 
the Romans, but Milo still kept hold of tbe citadel of Tarentum, 
and Alexander, tbe king's son, remained in garrison at Locri. 

He bad been a little more than two years in Italy, for be came 
at the end of the year 281 B.C. and departed early in 278 : he re- 
turned towards the close of 216, so that bis stay in Sicily was 
about two years and a half. The events of this period may be 
very briefly summed up. 

§ 12. The Samnites and Lucanians continued a sort of partisan 
warfare ao-ainst Rome, in which, though tbe Consuls were ho- 
noured with triumphs, no very signal advantages seem to have 
been gained. The Romans no doubt took back tbe places on 
tbe Latin road which bad submitted to tbe king ; they also made 
themselves masters of Locri, and utterly destroyed the ancient 
city of Croton, but they failed to take Rhegium, which was 
stoutly maintained by Decius Jubellius and his Campanians 
against Pyrrbus and Romans alike. Meanwhile Pyrrbus was 
pursuing a career of brilliant success in Sicily. He confined the 
Mamertines Avitbin the walls of Messana, and in a brilliant cam- 
paign drove the Carthaginians to the extreme west of tbe island. 
At length, in an evil hour and by tbe advice of evil counsellors, 
he undertook tbe siege of Lilybaeum, a place which the Cartha- 
ginians bad made almost impregnable. He was obliged to 
raise the siege, and with this first reverse of fortune he lost tbe 
confidence of his fickle Greek allies. Before this also death had 
deprived bim of tbe services of Cineas. Left to himself, be 
was guilty of many harsh and arbitrary acts, which proceeded 
rather from impatience and disappointment than from a cruel 
or tyrannical temper. It now became clear that he could bold 
Sicily no longer, and he gladly accepted a new invitation to re- 
turn to Italy. 

§ 13. Accordingly, late in tbe year 276 B.C., he set sail for 
Tarentum. On the passage he was intercepted by a Carthaginian 
fleet, and lost tbe larger number of bis ships ; and, on landing 
between Rhegium and Locri, he suffered further loss by an 
assault from the Campanians, who still held the former city. 



246 ROME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book III. 

Yet, once in Italy, lie found liimself at the head of a large army, 
composed partly of his veteran Epirotes, and partly of soldiers of 
fortune who had followed him from Sicily. His first act was to 
assault and recover possession of Locri; and here, in extreme 
want of money, he again listened to evil counsellors, and plun- 
dered the rich treasury of the temple of Proserpine. The ships 
that were conveying the plunder were wrecked, and Pyrrhus, 
conscience-stricken, restored all that was saved. But the me- 
mory of the deed haunted him : he has recorded his belief that 
this sacrilegious act was the cause of all his future misfor- 
tunes.* 

§ 14. The Consuls of the next year were L. Cornelius Lentulus 
and M' Curius Dentatus. On Curius depended the fortunes of 
Rome. The people were much disheartened, for pestilence was 
raging. The statue of Capitoline Jupiter had been struck by 
lightning, and men's hearts were filled with ominous forebodings. 
When the Consuls held their levy, the citizens summoned for 
service did not answer their names. Then Curius ordered the 
goods of the first recusant to be sold, a sentence which was fol- 
lowed by the loss of all political rights. This severe measure 
had its effect, and the required legions were made up. 

§ 15. -Lentulus marched into Lucania, Curius into Samnium. 
Pyrrhus chose the latter country for the seat of war. He found 
Curius encamped above Beneventum, and he resolved on a night 
attack, so as to surprise him before he could be joined by his 
colleague. But night attacks seldom succeed : part of the army 
missed its way, and it was broad daylight before the Epirote 
army appeared before the camp of the Consul. Curius imme- 
diately drew out his legions, and assaulted the enemy while they 
were entangled in the mountains. He had instructed his archers 
to shoot arrows wrapped in burning tow at the elephants, and to 
this device is attributed the victory he won. One of the females, 
hearing the cries of her young one, which had been wounded in 
this Avay, rushed furiously into the ranks of her own men. 
Curius now brought up the main body of his foot and attacked 
the disordered phalanxes : they were broken, and became help- 
less. The defeat was complete : Pyrrhus fell back at once upon 
Tarentum, and resolved to leave the shores of Italy. However, 
he left Milo still in the citadel, as if he intended to return. 

§ 16. But the glory of his life Avas ended ; the two or three 
years that remained of it were passed in hopeless enterprises. 
One day he was proclaimed King of Macedon, and the next he 
lost his kingdom. Then he attacked Sparta, and nearly took 

* ' S2f /ca? avToc 6 Hippo^ ev toIq idioig iTrouvrjfiaai, ypdipsi. — Dionys. xix. 11. 



Chap. XXVI. DEATH OF PYRRHUS. 247 

it. Lastly, lie assaulted Argos, and was killed by a tile thrown 
by a woman from the roof of a house. 

Such was the end of this remarkable man. Like Eichard I. of 
England or Charles XII. of Sweden, he passed his life in winning 
battles without securing any fruits of victory; and, like them, 
a life passed in the thick of danger was ended in a petty war and 
by an unknown hand. His chivalric disposition won him the 
admiration even of his enemies ; his impetuous temper and 
impatience of misfortune prevented him from securing the con- 
fidence of his friends. Yet he left a name Avorthy of his great 
ancestry ; and we part with regret from the history of his Italian 
wars, for it is the most frank and generous conflict in which 
Rome was cv'er engaged. 




Brundasium. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

FINAL REDUCTION AND SETTLEMENT OF ITALY. (274 264 B.C.) 

§ 1. Milo left by Pyrrhus in Tarentum. § 2. Final reduction of Samnites 
and Italians of South. § 3. Surrender of Tarentum : embassy of Ptolemy 
PhUadelphus to Kome. § 4. Campanian soldiers in Rbegium compelled to 
surrender: their fate. § 5. Submission of SaUentines and Messapians: 
Colony of Brundusium. § 6. Reduction of Picenians and Umbrians. § 1. 
Of Etruscans. § 8. Account of Settlement of Italy: present extent of 
Roman Territory : none but its inhabitants admitted to a share in govern- 
ment. § 9. Principles adopted in regulating Italy: Isolation and Self- 
government. § 10. How Isolation was produced : different conditions of 
Italian Towns. § 11. Prefectures. § 12. Municipal Towns. § 13. Colo- 
nies. § 14. Colonies of Roman Citizens. § 15. Latin Colonies. § 16. 
Jus. Latii. § 1*7. Free and Confederate States. § 18. Constitutions of 
Italian Towns. § 19. Admirable results of the system. 

§ 1. The departure of Pyrrhus left Italy at the mercy of Rome. 
Yet Milo, the king's lieutenant, still held the citadel of Tarentum, 
and none of the nations who had lately joined the Epirote stan- 
dard suhmitted without a final struggle. Of this struggle, what 
few particulars have survived shall be related, the affairs of the 
south being taken first, and then those of the north. 



Ch-\p. XXVII. PINAL REDUCTION OF ITALY. 249 

§ 2. Affairs of the South. — The Samnites, Lucanians, Brut- 
tians, and other tribes continued a kind of guerilla warfare, for 
Avhich their mountains afforded great facilities. To put an end to 
this, in the year 272 b.c, L. Papirius Cursor the younger, and Sp. 
Carvilius, who had been the instruments of crushing the Samnites 
at the close of the third war, were again elected Consuls together 
and sent southward with all their legions. Papirius invested Ta- 
rentum ; and while the lines were being formed, he received the 
submission of the Lucanians and Bruttians. 

Meanwhile Carvilius attacked the Samnites in their mountains, 
and the scattered remnants of that brave people, deserted by all, 
saw themselves compelled to submit finally to Rome, after a 
struggle of about seventy years. Thus ended what is sometimes 
called the fourth Samnite war. 

§ 3. The same summer witnessed the reduction of Tarentum. 
Papirius, jealous of the appearance of a Carthaginian fleet in the 
gulf, entered into a secret treaty with Milo, by which the Epirote 
governor agreed to evacuate the city and leave it to the will of 
the Romans. This man had ruled the Tarentines like a tyrant, 
and it is probable that they on their part would have gladly pur- 
chased reasonable terms from the consul by surrendering their 
Epirote governor. But they were not allowed the choice. Milo 
sailed for Epirus with all his men and stores, and Tarentum was 
left to itself. The aristocratical party instantly seized the govern- 
ment, and made submission to Rome. They were allowed to con- 
tinue independent, on condition of paying an annual tribute to the 
conqueror : but their fortifications were rased, their arsenal dis- 
mantled, the fleet surrendered to Rome, and a Roman garrison 
placed in their citadel. 

The attention generally excited in the east of the Mediterranean 
by the failure of Pyrrhus is attested by the fact that in the year 
273 B.C. Ptolemy Philadelphus, the king's brother-in-law, now 
sovereign of Egypt, sent ambassadors to Rome, and entered into 
alliance with Rome. Thus began a friendly connexion with Egypt 
which continued unbroken to the time of Caesar. 

§ 4. In 271 B.C. the Plebeian Consul, C. Genucius, was sent to 
reduce Decius Jubellius and the Campanian soldiers, who had 
made themselves lords of Rhegium. This able captain had added 
a number of adventurers to his original legion, and was in fact 
head of a niilitary oligarchy in that city. But the Senate formed 
a treaty with the Mamertine soldiery, who had occupied Messana 
in precisely the same manner, and thus detached them from 
alliance with their compatriots : they also secured supplies of 
corn from Hiero, who had been raised to the sovereignty of Syra- 
cuse on the departure of Pyrrhus from Sicily. The Campanians 

11* 



250 ROME GONQUBROR OF ITALY. Book III. 

of Ehegium were thus left to themselves; the city was taken by 
assault and all the soldiery put to the sword, except the original 
legionaries of Jubellius, who as burgesses of Capua possessed some 
of the rights of Roman citizens, and were therefore reserved for 
trial before the People of Rome. Not more than three hundred 
still survived out of several thousands ; but they met with no 
mercy. Every Tribe voted that they should be first scourged and 
then beheaded as traitors to the Republic. Rhegium was restored 
to the condition of st Greek community. 

§ 5. A few years later, the Sallentines and Messapians in the 
heel of Italy submitted to the joint forces of both Consuls. 
Brundusium and its lands were ceded to Rome ; and about twenty 
years afterwards (244 b.c.) a colony was planted there. Brundu- 
sium became the Dover of Italy, as Dyrrhachium, on the opposite 
Epirote coast, became the Calais of Greece. 

§ 6. Affairs of the North. — In the year 268 B.C. both Con- 
suls undertook the reduction of the Picenians, who occupied the 
coast land between Umbria and the Marrucinians. Their chief 
city, Asculum, was taken by storm. A portion of the people 
was transferred to that beautiful coast which lies between the 
bay of Naples and the Silarus, where they took the name of 
Picentines. 

Soon after (266 b.c.) Sarsina, the chief city of the Umbrians, 
was taken, and all Umbria submitted to Rome. 

§ 7. It remains to speak of Etruria. No community here was 
strong enough, so far as we hear, to maintain active war against 
Rome ; and the haughty Vulsinii, which had so long resisted her 
single-handed, was now compelled to sue for succour. The ruling 
aristocracy had ventured to arm their serfs, probably for the 
purpose of a Roman war : but these men had turned upon their 
late masters, and were now exercising a still direr oppression than 
they had suffered. The Senate readily gave ear to a call for as- 
sistance from the Volsinian lords ; and (in the year 265 B.C.) Q. 
Fabius Gurges, son of old Fabius Maximus, invested the city. He 
was slain in a sally made by the Etruscan serfs, who were, how- 
ever, obliged to surrender soon after. The Romans treated the 
city as lawfully-gotten booty. The old Etruscan town on the hill- 
top, with its polygonal walls, was destroyed ; its 2000 statues and 
other works of art were transferred to Rome ; a new town was 
founded on the low ground, which in the modernised name of 
Bolsena still preserves the memory of its ancient fame. After the 
fall of Vulsinii, all the Etruscan communities, which (like Arre- 
tium) were not already in alliance with Rome, made formal sub- 
mission ; and Etruria, like every other district of Roman Italy, 
awaited the will of the conquering city of the Tiber. 



Chap. XXVII. FINAL REDUCTION OF ITALY. 251 

§ 8. We must now give a brief account of the manner in wliicli 
the Roman government so ordered the noble dominions of which 
they were now masters, that for many years at least absolute 
tranquillity prevailed. We have no definite account of the 
organisation by which these results were obtained ; but by 
putting together incidental facts which are handed down with 
respect to various communities, a tolerably exact knowledge of 
their system may be obtained. 

To conceive of ancient Rome as the capital of Italy in the 
same sense that London is the capital of England or Paris of 
France would be a great mistake. London and Paris are the 
chief cities of their respective countries only because they are 
the seat of government. The people of these cities and their 
surrounding districts have no privileges superior to those of other 
English or French citizens. But the city of ancient Rome, with 
her surrounding territory, was a great Corporate Body or Com- 
munity, holding sovereignty over the whole of Italy, which had 
now obtained that signification which we have above noticed,* 
and comprehended the whole Peninsula from the Macra and 
Rubicon downwards, except that the territory lately taken from 
the Senonian Gauls was for some years later termed the Pro- 
vince of Ariminum. The Roman territory itself, in the first 
days of the Republic, consisted (as we have seen) of twenty-one 
Tribes or Wards. Before the point at which we have arrived, 
these Tribes had been successively increased to three-and-thirty. 
. These Tribes included a district beyond the Tiber stretching 
somewhat further than Veil ; a portion of the Sabine and 
^quian territory beyond the Anio ; with part of Latium, part 
of the Volscian country, and the coast-land as far as the Liris, 
southward. None but persons enrolled on the lists of these 
Tribes had a vote in the Popular Assemblies or any share in the 
government and legislation of the City. The Latin Cities not in- 
cluded in tfce Tribes, and all the Italian Communities, were subject 
to Rome, but had no share in her political franchise. 

§ 9. The principles on which the Italian nations were so 
settled as to remain the peaceable subjects of Rome were these. 
First, they were broken up and divided as much as possible ; 
secondly, they were allowed, with little exception, to manage 
their own affairs. The Isolation enforced by Rome prevented 
them from combining against her. The Self-goveenment granted 
by Rome made them bear her supremacy Avith contentment. 

§ 10. The arts by which Isolation was produced we have seen 
put in full practice at the settlement of Latium fifty years 
before.f The same plan was pursued with the difi"erent Italian 
* Chapt. i. § 3. f See below, § 11. 



252 ROME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book IH. 

nations. Those which submitted with a good grace were treated 
leniently. Those which resisted stubbornly were weakened by 
the confiscation of their lands and by the settlement of colonies 
in their principal towns. The Frentanians are the best example 
of the milder treatment ; the Samnites afford the most notable 
instance of the more harsh. 

The work of Isolation was promoted partly by the long and 
narrow shape and the central mountain range, which still makes 
a central government so difficult, and still renders it easy for 
many states to maintain a separate existence, but partly also by 
a sentiment common to most of the Italian nations, as well 
as to those of Greece. They regarded a free man, not as 
one of a Nation, but as the member of a Civic Community. 
Every one regarded his first duties as owed to his own City, 
and not to his Nation. Their City was their Country. They 
addressed one another not as fellow-countrymen, but as fellow- 
citizens. Eome herself was the noblest specimen of this form of 
society. And the settlement which she adopted throughout Italy 
took advantage of this prevailing rule, and perpetuated it. 

Not only were the Italians split up into civic communities, 
but these communities were themselves placed in very different 
conditions. The common division of the Italian communities, 
as established by the Eoman Government, is threefold — Pre- 
fectures, Municipal Towns, and Colonies. In each of these three 
classes, many subordinate diff"erences existed. Yet there were 
certain broad distinctions which justify this division ; and they 
shall now be described briefly in their order. 

§ 11. Prefectures. We will begin with these, because, though 
they may be regarded as exceptions, they are examples of the 
simplest form under which Italian cities subject to Eome present 
themselves. 

The Prefectures are exceptional, because they did not enjoy the 
right of Self-government, but were under the rule of Prefects ; 
that is, of Eoman governors annually nominated by the Praetor 
of the City. All lawsuits were tried in the Prefect's court ; and 
the inhabitants of the Prefecture were registered by the Eoman 
Censor, so as to be liable to all the burthens and duties of Eoman 
citizens, without enjoying any of their privileges. 

This condition was called the Cserite Franchise, because the 
town of Caere, in Lower Etruria, was the first community placed 
in this dependent position.* Amid the terror of the GaUic 
invasion, Caere had afforded a place of refuge to priests and 
sacred things, and women and children of the Eomans, and had 

* Caerite cera digni, Horat i. Dpistol. 6. 62 : cf. Gellius, xvi. 13. 



Chap. XXVII. FINAL REDUCTION OP ITALY. 253 

been rewarded by a treaty of equal alliance. But at a later 
period slie joined other Etruscan communities in war against 
Rome,* and it Avas on ber submission, probably, that she was 
reduced to the condition of a Prefecture. Capua afterwards 
became a notable instance of a similar change. She also, during 
the Samnite wars and afterwards, enjoyed a state of perfect 
equality in respect to Rome. The troops which she supplied in 
virtue of the alliance between her and Rome formed a separate 
legion, and were commanded by officers of her own, as appeared 
in the case of Decius Jubellius. But in the Hannibalic war she 
joined the Carthaginian conqueror; and when Rome regained 
the ascendancy, she was degraded to the condition of a Pre- 
fecture f 

§ 12, Municipal Towns. At the period of which we write, 
these were Communities bound to Rome by treaties of alliance 
varying in specific terms, but framed on a general principle with 
respect to burthens and privileges. Their burthens consisted in 
furnishing certain contingents of troops, which they were 
obliged to provide with pay and equipments while on service, 
provisions being found by the Romans.^ Their privileges con- 
sisted in freedom from all other taxes, and in possessing in more 
or less completeness the right of Self-government. This con- 
dition was secured by a treaty of alliance, which, nominally at 
least, placed the Municipal community on a footing of equality 
with Rome ; though sometimes this treaty was imposed by 
Rome without consulting the will of the other Community.|| 
Thus there was, no doubt, a considerable diversity of condition 
among the Municipia. Some regarded their alliance as a boon, 
others looked upon it as a mark of subjection. In the former 
condition were Caere and Capua before they were made Prefec- 
tures ; in the latter condition was Volsinii and the other Etrus- 
can Cities. 

The Municipal Towns, then, were exempt from all tribute or 
toll payable to Rome, except military service. They enjoyed the 
right of Self-government, and administered their own laws. 
They also were allowed to exercise the Civil or Private rights of 

* Chapt. sviii. § 7. 

\ The Prefectures of which we hear are : — (1), in Campania : Capua, Cumje, 
Casilinum, Volturnum, Litemum, Puteoli, Acerrse, Suessula, AteUa, Calatia, 
Pundi, Pormiee ; (2), in Etruria : Casre, Saturnia ; (3), in Samnium : Yena- 
frum, AUifae; (4), in the Volscian land: Arpinum, Privemum; (5), in the 
Hernican : Anagnia, Frusino ; (6), in the Sabine : Reate, Nursia. 

X Polyb. vi. 39, § 15. 

II Hence the distinction between Clvitates Federates and Oiviiaies Libera. 
All Federate Communities were free, but not all Free Communities were 
federate. 



254 EOMB CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book III 

Roman citizens ; but none, witliout special grant, had any power 
of obtaining the Political or Public Rights. In some cases even 
the Private Rights were withheld, as from the greater part of the 
Latin communities after the war of 338 B.C., when the citizens of 
each Community were for a time forbidden to form contracts of 
marriage or commerce with Roman citizens or with their neigh- 
bours. They stood to Rome and to the rest of Italy much in the 
same condition as the Plebeians to the Patricians before the Can- 
uleian law. But these prohibitions were gradually and silently 
removed. Municipal Towns were often rewarded by a gift of the 
Roman franchise, more or less completely, Avhile those which 
offended were depressed to the condition of Prefectures. 

At length, by the Julian and other Laws, (b.c. 90), of which we 
shall speak in its proper place, all the Municipal Towns of Italy, 
as well as the Colonies, received the full Roman franchise ; and 
hence arose the common conception of a Municipal Town, that is, 
a Community of which the citizens are members of the whole 
nation, all possessing the same rights, and subject to the same 
burthens, but retaining the administration of law and government 
in all local matters which concern not the nation at large. But 
the Municipal Towns of Italy, before the Julian law, were hardly 
members of a nation at all. Their citizens had no share in the 
central government, no votes in the National Assemblies ; while 
they were exempt from all taxation, except that which they found 
it necessary to impose on themselves for sending their contingents 
of troops into the field ; and they possessed unfettered power of 
self-government, except when a Roman Consul or Praetor hap- 
pened to be present in their city. 

§ 13. Colonies. It is in the Colonial Towns that we must 
look for the chief instruments of Roman supremacy in Italy. 
Directly dependent upon Rome for existence, they served more 
than anything to promote that division of interests which ren- 
dered it so difficult for Italy, or any part of Italy, to combine na- 
tionally against the Roman government. 

When we speak or think of Roman Colonies, we must dismiss 
all those conceptions of colonisation which are familiar to our 
minds from the practice either of ancient Greece or of the mari- 
time states of modern Europe. Roman Colonies were not 
planted in new countries by adventurers who found their old 
homes too narrow for their wants or their ambition, and whose 
bond of union with the mother-country was rendered feeble and 
precarious by difference of interest or remoteness of situation. 
When the Romans planted a Colony (at the time we speak of 
and for more than a century later), it was always within the 
limits of the Italian Peninsula, and within the walls of ancient 



Chap. XXVII. FINAL REDUCTION OP ITALY. 255 

cities "wliose obstinate resistance made it prudent to restore them 
to independence, and whose reduced condition rendered it possible 
to place them in the condition of subjects. 

It was a custom followed by the Romans, in common with the 
Sabellian nations, to amerce a conquered community of its lands, 
either in whole or in part, for the benefit of the conquering state. 
The lands thus confiscated Avere added to the Public Land, of 
which we have heard so much. After the conquest of Italy, this 
Public Land had become very large in extent in every part of the 
Peninsula. We have, on several occasions, mentioned that por- 
tions of this land were appropriated to the citizens who migrated 
from Rome and its neighbourhood to become the citizens of a 
Colony. Thus two purposes were served at once : — the poorer 
plebeians were raised to a state of easy independence, and the 
sovereignty of Rome was secured in remote districts by the pres- 
ence of a new population devoted to her interests. 

But these Colonies were not all of the same character. They 
must be distinguished into two classes, — the Colonies of Reman 
Citizens, and the Latin Colonies. 

§ 14. The Colonies of Roman Citizens consisted usually of three 
hundred men of approved military experience, who went forth with 
their families to occupy conquered cities of no great magnitude, 
but which were important as military positions, being usually on 
the sea-coast.* These three hundred families formed a sort of 
patrician caste, while the old inhabitants sank into the condition 
formerly occupied by the plebeians at Rome. The heads of these 
families retained all their rights as Roman citizens, and might re- 
pair to Rome to vote in the Popular Assemblies. When in early 
Roman history we hear of the revolt of a Colony, the meaning seems 
to be that the natives rose against the colonists and expelled them. 
Hence it is that we hear of colonists being sent more than once to 
the same place, as to Antium.f 

§ 15. But more numerous and more important than these were 
the Latin Colonies, of which there were thirty in existence when 
Hannibal crossed the Alps. Of these thirty no fewer than 
twenty-six had been founded before the close of the year 
263 B.C. 

The reason for the name they bore was this. We have seen 
that a close connection had subsisted between Rome and the 
Latin communities from the earliest times. Under the later 

* All such were called specially Cohnice Navales. 

\ The Roman Colonies of which we hear previous to 263 B.C., were Antium, 
Vitellia, Satricum, Terracina, Casinum, in the Volsdan land; Mintumae and 
fiinuessa, in Campania (296 B.C.) ; Sena GaUica, on the Umhrian coast (282 
B.C.); Castrum Novum, in Picenum (264 B.C.). 



256 EOME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. 

Kings Rome was tlie head of Latium ; and by Spurius Cassius 
a League was formed between Rome and Latium, which continued 
with a slight interruption till the great Latin War of 338 B.C. So 
long as this league lasted, Rome on the one side and the Latin 
Communities on the other granted certain reciprocal rights to 
the citizens of each people. Latins enjoyed all the Private Rights 
of Roman citizens in Rome ; and Romans enjoyed all the Private 
Rights of the Latin citizens in any of the cities of Latium.* During 
the period of the league a number of Colonies were sent forth, in 
which the settlers consisted jointly of Romans and Latins, and 
their numbers were not confined to the small number of three 
hundred, but usually amounted to some thousands. But the citi- 
zens of these Latin Colonies seem to have had no rights at Rome, 
except such as were possessed by the allied Municipal Towns. 
They were therefore regarded politically as Communities in alliance 
with Rome. 

After the Latin war, similar Colonies still continued to be sent 
forth ; indeed, these were the Colonies which chiefly relieved the 
poor of the Roman territory. At first, no doubt, the Colonists 
remained distinct from the old inhabitants ; but generally both 
were fused into one body, like the Sabines and Latins at Rome, 
like the Samnites and Oscans in Capua. 

The Latin Colonies, then, at that time seem to have been merely 
Allied Cities, bound like them to furnish troops for the service of 
Rome, and holding their cities as the friends of Rome in the midst 
of a hostile population. It is to these Colonies that we must 
attribute chiefly that tenacious grasp which Rome was able to 
keep upon every district in Italy. The Volscians were overawed 
by Fregellae, Pontise, Interamna, and Sora ; the Campanians by 
Gales, Suessa Aurunca, and Cosa ; the -,3j]quians by Carseoli ; the 
Marsians by Alba Fucentia ; Umbria by Narnia and Ariminum ; 
the Picenians by Hatria and Firmum ; the Samnites by Saticula, 
Beneventum, and -i^Esernia ; the Apulians by Luceria and Venusia; 
the Lucanians by Posidonia (afterwards Psestum). These places 
were, no doubt, all strongly fortified. The ruins of massive walls 
built with irregular polygonal blocks of stone, which crowned their 
rocky citadels, still remain in many places, to show that they must 
have presented most formidable obstacles in an age when gun- 
powder was unknown. 

§ 16. The rights and privileges of these Latin Colonies are only 
known to us as they are found at a later period of the Republic 
under the name of Latinitas, or the Right of Latium (Jus Latii). 
This Right, at the later time we speak of, we know to have con- 
sisted in the power of obtaining the full Rights of a Roman 
* Comp. Chapt. xx. § 14. 



Chap. XXYII. FINAL REDUCTION OF ITALY. 26 Y 

Burgess, but in a limited and peculiar manner. Any citizen of a 
Latin Community, wliether one of the Free Cities of Latium or a 
Latin Colony, was allowed to emigrate to Rome and be enrolled 
in one of the Roman Tribes, on two conditions : first, that he 
had held a magistracy in his native town ; secondly, that he left a 
representative of his family in that native town. Thus was formed 
that large body of half-Roman citizens throughout Italy, Avho are 
so well known to readers of Livy under the appellation of " the 
Latin name." Socii et nomen Latinum — the Allies and the Latin 
Name — was the technical expression for all those Italian Communi- 
ties, besides Rome herself, who were bound to supply soldiers for 
her armies. 

§17. Free and Confederate States.* It will be seen, then,, 
that the mass of the Italian Communities were in a condition of 
greater or less dependence upon Rome, — the Prefectures being in 
a state of absolute subjection, the Colonies bound by ties of national 
feeling and interest, the Municipal Towns by articles of alliance 
varying in kind. Besides these more or less dependent communi- 
ties, there remain to be noticed, fourthly, the Cities which remained 
wholly independent of Rome, but bound to her by treaties of 
Equal Alliance. Of the Latin cities, Tibur and Praeneste alone 
were in this condition ; in Campania, most of the cities, till, after 
the Hannibalic war, Capua and others were reduced to the con- 
dition of Prefectures, while Nola and Nuceria alone remained free ; 
of the Hellenic cities, in the south, Neapolis, Velia, Locri, Rhegium, 
and Heraclea ; in Umbria, Camerium ; in Etruria, Iguvium ; with 
all the cities of the Frentanians. But as Roman power increased, 
most of these communities were reduced to the condition of simple 
municipal towns. 

§ 18. Whatever is known of the internal constitution of these 
various communities belongs to later times, when by the Julian 
Law they had all obtained the Roman franchise, and had become 
part and parcel of the Roman state. At Capua, indeed, we learn 
that the government was now in the hands of a Senate, with an 
elective chief called the Meddix Tuticus.f But Capua, as we 
have just seen, was, till after 211 b.c, to all intents and pur- 
poses an independent city, and affords no clue to assist us in 
judging of the rest. 

There can, however, be little doubt that in the Colonies a con- 
stitution was adopted similar to that of Rome herself. The 
Colonists formed a kind of Patriciate or Aristocracy, and the 
heads of their leading families constituted a Senate. There were 
two chief magistrates representing the Consuls, to whom (in the 
more important towns) were added one or two men to fulfil the 
* Civitates Libferse et Federatse. f Liv. xxiii. 35 ; xxiv. 19. 



258 EOME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book IIL 

duties of Censor and Quaestor * In course of time similar con- 
stitutions were introduced into the Municipal Towns also. And it 
is probable that from the first Rome exerted her influence in favour 
of an aristocratic government. 

§ 19. Thus, by placing the Italian Cities in every possible rela- 
tion to herself, from real independence to complete subjection, and 
by planting Colonies, some with full Roman Rights, some with a 
limited power of obtaining these Rights, Rome Avove her net of 
sovereignty over the Peninsula, and covered every part with its 
entangling meshes. It is not to be supposed that every step in 
this process was taken with a full consciousness of its efii'ect But 
some general plan there must have been, such as we have summed 
up in the words Isolation and -Self-government. The effects, at all 
events, were such as would have corresponded with the most deep- 
laid .plans of policy. The campaigns of Pyrrhus took place at a 
time when Italy was yet not wholly conquered. But few cities of 
importance, except those of his own countrymen, opened their gates 
to him. In the first Punic war, not an Italian community took 
advantage of the exhausted condition to which Rome was more 
than once reduced. In the Gallic Avar that followed, her allies 
served her faithfully. The invasion of Hannibal exposed her to a 
pressure as severe as any government ever underwent. Yet when 
the great General Avas asked by his rivals at home, "Whether the 
defeat of Cannai had caused one Latin community to desert 
Rome ?" f he could not answer in the affirmative. More than this. 
The mass of the Campanians, the poor remains of the brave 
Samnite tribes, the Lucanians, Apulians, and Bruttians, all rose in 
favour of the Carthaginian invader. But in central Italy, where 
the Roman government was best known, not one city, federate 
or municipal, opened her gates to the conqueror; and even 
in the insurgent districts the Colonies remained immoveable 
as rocks, upon Avhich the seething Avaves might lavish their utmost 
fury. 

* This was so in later times, at all events. Hence in some towns we hear 
the magistrates called Duumviri, in others Tresviri, in others Quatuorviri. 
For purposes of business the municipal senates were divided into committees 
of ten, whence the members of those senates are called Decuriones. 

f " Bcquis Latini Nominis Populus defecerit ad nos ?"— Liv, xxiii. 12, 




Coin of Carthage, with Winged Horse. 

BOOK IV. 

ROME AND CARTHAdE. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

CARTHAGE. EVENTS LEADING TO FIRST PUNIC "WAR. 

§ 1. Good fortune of Rome in her successive wars. § 2. Saying of Pyrrhua 
§ 3. Situation of Carthage. § 4. Origin and growth of Carthage. § 5. 
Her subjects. § 6. G-overnment. § Y. Army. § 8. Navy. § 9. Her 
attempts to gain possession of Sicily. § 10. Mamertines of Messana and 
Hiero of Syracuse: Mamertines seek protection of Rome. § 11. Hieroand 
Carthaginians defeated by Romans. § 12. The First Punic War foUows. 

§ 1. Nothing is more remarkable in the History of Rome than 
the manner in which she was brought into contact only with one 
enemy at a time. During the heat of her contest with the 
Samnites, Alexander of Macedon was terminating his career. 
The second Samnite war broke out in 324 b.c. ; and in the fol- 
lowing year the great King died at the untimely age of thirty- 
two. When he took rest at Babylon, after ten years spent in 
ceaseless activity, he received embassies from all parts of the 
known world. If it is to be believed that among these envoys 
there Avere representatives of the Samnites and other tribes 
of Lower Italy, their business at the distant court of Alex- 



260 ROME AND OARTHAaB. Book lY. 

ander could have been no other than to solicit the aid of his 
victorious arms to arrest the course of Rome, and protect the 
south of Italy, so dear to every Greek, from her overpowering 
ambition. The possibility that the great King might have 
turned his course westward to execute the plan which had 
once presented itself to the young ambition of Alcibiades,* oc- 
curred to Roman minds. Why should not he have attempted, 
what his kinsman Alexander of Molossus had attempted, and 
what Pyrrhus after him was destined to attempt? Livy 
broaches the question whether Rome would have risen su- 
perior to the contest or not, and decides it in the affirmative. 
But his judgment is that of a patriot, rather than of an histo- 
rian. Scarcely did Rome prevail over the unassisted prowess of 
the Samnites. Scarcely did she drive the adventurous Pyrrhus 
from her shores, after she had broken the force of Italy. If a 
stronger than Pyrrhus — a man of rarest ability both for war and 
peace — had joined his power to that of C Pontius the Samnite, 
it can hardly be doubted that the History of the World would have 
been changed. 

§ 2. The same good fortune attended Rome in her collision 
with Carthage. The adventurous temper of Pyrrhus led him 
from Italy to Sicily, and thus threw the Carthaginians into neces- 
sary alliance with the Romans. When the King was on his 
return to the Italian shore, the greater part of his forces were 
destroyed by a Carthaginian fleet. What might have been the 
result of the Tarentine war, if the diplomacy of Cineas had, in 
the first instance, been employed to engage the great African city 
against Rome ? Now that Italy was prostrate, it was plain that 
a collision between the two governments so encroaching and so 
jealous was inevitable. As Pyrrhus left the soil of Italy for ever, 
he said regretfully : — " How fair a battle-field we are leaving for 
the Romans and Carthaginians !" 

§ 3. Before we begin the narration of the first Punic War, it 
will be well to give a brief account of Carthage and the Cartha- 
ginians. 

The north coast of Africa, at a point nearly due south of 
Florence, turns abruptly southward, and the coast continues to 
run in a southerly direction for about two hundred miles, when 
it again trends eastward. Just before the coast takes its sudden 
turn to the south, it is hollowed out into a deep bay, of which 
the western extremity was named the Fair Promontory (Pulcrum 
Promontorium), and the eastern horn, anciently called the Pro- 
montory of Mercury (Promontorium Hermseum), is now well 
known under the appellation of Cape Bon. About the middle of 
* Thuc. vi. 90. 



Chap. XXVIII. CARTHAGE. 261 

tliis great bay a tongue of land juts out into the water, and on 
this now desolate spot once stood the great commercial city of 
Carthage.* Cape Bon is not more than eighty miles distant 
from Lilybseum, the southernmost point of Sicily, and Carthage 
itself was not more than one hundred miles from the same point. 
If the African coast ran on straight eastward from Cape Bon, it 
would strike against the headland of Lilybseum. 

§ 4. It is well known that this celebrated city was a colony 
from Tyre, the great centre of Phoenician commerce in the east, 
and that the common- date for its foundation is about a century 
before the foundation of Rome, The language of the colony con- 
tinued to be Phoenician, or (as the Romans called it) Punic ;f 
and the scanty remains of that language are sufficient to show its 
near affinity with Hebrew and other kindred tongues. In very 
early times Carthage had assumed a leading position in the west 
of the Mediterranean. At the time of her fall, after the long and 
disastrous struggle with Rome, and the loss of all her empire, 
she still numbered a population of 700,000 within her walls ; and 
the circumference of these walls measured more than twenty 
miles. As her wealth and power increased, she had planted 
numerous colonies on the African coast. Three hundred Libyan 
cities are said to have paid her tribute ; and her dominion was 
gradually extended to the Pillars of Hercules on the one side, 
and nearly to the Great Syrtis on the other. Much of this coast- 
land, especially the great plain that extends south of Carthage to 
the Lesser Syrtis, is extraordinarily fertile. 

§ 5. This fertility naturally attracted inhabitants. Besides the 
native Libyan Tribes, there was a large mixed population of 
Libyans and Phoenicians in and around the colonies of Carthage, 
and of other cities which, like Carthage, claimed descent from 
Phoenicia itself. These people were ruled by Carthage with ex- 
cessive rigour. They were treated as mere tillers of the ground, 
subject to the payment of tribute, but were not entrusted with 
any political rights whatsoever. Their condition somewhat 
resembled that of the Rayahs or Christian peasantry in the 
Turkish dominions, before the recent reforms ; but whereas the 
Turkish tribute was always light, the burdens imposed upon 
these subjects of the Carthaginian government were often more 
than the utmost industry could furnish. The result was that 
the Carthaginian Government was detested everywhere, and the 
presence of a foreign invader was always the signal for a general 

* A 4)laii of Carthage, with its harbours, wiU he given to illustrate its siege, 
in Chapt. xlvi. § T. 

■j- P^oem'a; became in old Latin Poewws. The adjective hence form od was 
Punicus, as munire from moenia, punire from poena. 



262 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. 

insurrection, a fact wliicli offers a remarkable point of contrast 
between the dominion of Rome in Italy and that of Carthage in 
Africa. 

§ 6. Of the internal condition of Carthage little is known. It 
seems probable that both the government and the trade were a 
monopoly in the hands of a few wealthy families, descendants 
of those merchant princes who once bore rule in Tyre. Power 
was nominally entrusted to two elective magistrates, who bore 
the title of Suffets* or Protectors^ and a Senate of three hun- 
dred. The Suffets were elective, but only held their office for 
a season. On certain occasiofis the whole body of citizens were 
called together and consulted. But all real power seems to have 
been absorbed by a smaller Council of One Hundred, self-elected, 
who held office for life. Before this narrow oligarchy all other 
powers grew dim. The Suffets became mere lay -figures; the 
Senate and the Assembly of the People faded into venerable 
forms ; just as at Venice, after the thirteenth century, the Doges 
and the Ass'embly of the Nobles dwindled into a shadow before 
the secret despotism of the Council of Ten. 

§ 7. The Carthaginians had little need of a strong military 
force in Africa. Their own citizens seem to have been trained 
to arms for home purposes, and an immense magazine of military 
stores Avas kept in Byrsa or Bosra,f the citadel. This force was 
probably sufficient to overawe the native Libyans, and to repress 
the incursions of the Numidians and other predatory tribes on 
their western side. But for foreign service they relied almost 
solely on mercenary troops. These they hired from Libya itself, 
Spain, Italy, Gaul, and Greece. The Balearic Isles supplied them 
with good slingers. Their light cavalry, which in the hands of 
Hannibal proved a formidable force, was formed of wild Nu- 
midians, light, spare, hardy men, Avho had their horses so com- 
pletely under command as to ride them without bit or rein. 
Organisation seems to have been introduced into this army by 
Mago, a notable man who flourished about 500 B.C., and is the re- 
puted founder of the military power of Carthage. 

The officers in chief command of these motley forces were 
usually native Carthaginians. But here the jealous and confined 
nature of the Government was hurtful to the public interest. 

* The Latin Suffes, plur. Suffetes, is clearly the same as the Hebrew 
Shophet, plur. Shof Urn, which in our version of the Bible is translated 
Judges. But the root is shdfat, to protect. 

f More than one strongly fortified city on the borders of Palestine was 
called Bosra — the Phoenician name for the citadel of Carthage. The Greeks 
called it Bvpaa. No doubt the meaning of this word gave rise to the legend 
that Dido bought as much land from the Libyans " as a hide would compass," 
and then cheated them by cutting the hide into strips. 



Chap. XXVIII. CARTHAGE. 263 

Notliing was more formidable to such a Government than an 
able and successful general at the bead of a force tbat owed no 
allegiance save to their officers. The generals, therefore, seem 
mostly to have been men chosen rather because of their devo- 
tion to the oligarchical families, than because of their aptness for 
command. When they failed their merciless masters visited the 
ftiilure by fine, imprisonment, or crucifixion. 

§ 8. If the army was not a national institution, it might have 
been thought that a people whose wealth so much depended 
upon their shipping would at least have been absolute masters 
of the sea. And we find immense fleets fitted out, and great 
losses speedily repaired. But here again the commanders seem 
to have been hampered by the Government, or not to have made 
fit use of the means at their command. It must have been as 
surprising to people of that day to see the Carthaginians beaten 
on their own element by the Romans, as it would be to the 
present generation to see the fleets of England defeated by those 
of Russia. 

§ 9. It was by means of the fleets, of course, that Carthage was 
brought into connexion and collision with other countries. In 
early days she had established commercial settlements in the 
South of Spain and in Sicily. It was in the latter country that 
she came in contact first with the Greeks, and afterwards with 
the Romans. 

We have seen that in the first year of the Republic a treaty 
was made between Carthage and Rome. This was at a time 
when the Sicilian Greeks, by their growing wealth and restless 
energy, must have already awakened the jealousy of the mer- 
chant-rulers of western Sicily. About thirty years later, the 
great Persian invasion encouraged Carthage to assail them ; 
but the Sicilian Greeks had kept aloof, and Gelon of Syracuse 
destroyed the fleets of Carthage and Etruria, combined under 
the command of Mago, as has been already noticed. For the 
next seventy years the Carthaginians contented themselves with 
obtaining possession of three factories or trading-marts on the 
coast of Sicily — Panormus, Motye, and Lilybseum, which they 
fortified very strongly. But after the great overthrow of the 
Athenian power by the Syracusans (413 b.c), the Carthaginian 
Government formed the design of becoming masters of this fertile 
and coveted island. Three years later they appeared in great force 
before Selinus, which fell after a brave resistance. Other cities 
shared the same fate ; and in 406 b.c. the city of Agrigentum, 
then probably the largest and most magnificent in the Hellenic 
world, was sacked and destroyed. The person, afterwards so 
famous as Dionysius the Tyrant, took advantage of this disaster 



264 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. 

to attack tlie existing Government of Syracuse for permitting 
tlie destruction of a sister city, and with singular craft raised 
himself to absolute power. His long reign of thirty-eight years 
(405 — 367 B.C.) comprises the time of Rome's great depression 
by the Gallic invasion, while the year of his death is coincident 
with that of the Licinian Laws, the era from which dates the con- 
stant advance of the Italian great city. He engaged in two great 
wars with Carthage. In the first, he had lost all Sicily, and was 
blockaded by Imilcon in Syracuse, when a pestilence destroyed 
the Carthaginian army, and so reduced that people, that their 
Libyan subjects rose in insurrection, and for a time the existence 
of Carthage seemed doubtful (394 b.c.) In the second, he was 
at first eminently successful, but was at length obliged to conclude 
a peace by which the River Halycus was settled as the boundary 
between Grecian and Carthaginian Sicily, and the territory of 
Agrigentum was added to Syracusan rule (383 b.c.) 

This treaty was followed by a long rest. The younger Diony- 
sius succeeded, and was overthrown by Dion, a Platonic philoso- 
pher, who put down the tyranny of Dionysius 11. only to continue 
a modified tyranny in his own person. Dion was put to death by 
his brother Timoleon, a man in whom stern patriotism overpow- 
ered the sentiments of nature. The Carthaginians took advantage 
of these troubles to renew hostilities, but were compelled by Timo- 
leon to remain contented with the same boundaries which had 
been fixed by the treaty of Dionysius. This took place in the 
year of the great Latin War. 

Peace was now maintained for nearly thirty years. But in 
31*7 B.C. Agathocles made himself King of Syracuse by means 
still more unscrupulous than had been used by Dionysius. In 310 
B.C. the Carthaginians declared war against him. At Himera he 
was signally defeated, and Syracuse lay open to the enemy. But 
Agathocles took the bold step of transporting the troops which 
remained for the defence of the capital into Africa, so as to 
avail himself of the known disaftection of the Libyan subjects of 
Carthage. His successes were marvellous. One of the Sufi'ets 
fell in battle, the other acted as a traitor. All the Libyan sub- 
jects of Carthage supported the Sicilian monarch, and he en- 
camped almost under the walls of the city. But he was obliged 
to return to Sicily rapidly, to check an insurrection there, and 
a hurried peace was made with Carthage. The remainder of 
his life was spent in vain attempts in Sicily, in Corcyra, and in 
Southern Italy. He died in 289 B.C., less then ten years before 
the appearance of Pyrrhus in Italy. 

After the death of Agathocles, the Carthaginians and Greeks 
of Sicily rested quiet, till Pyrrhus undertook to expel the former 



Chap. XXVIII. CAKTHAGE. 265 

from the island. We have already mentioned his first brilliant 
.successes and his subsequent failure.* By this assault of Pyr- 
rhus, Carthage was led to conclude a treaty with Rome. But 
the appearance of Carthaginian fleets off Ostia and in the Gulf 
of Tarentum had roused the jealousy of the Italian Republic, 
and an opportunity only was wanting to give rise to open war 
between the two states. In the year 264 b.c. such an opportu- 
nity occurred. 

§ 10. It has been recorded above that a body of Campanian 
Mercenaries, calling themselves Mamertines, being discharged 
from the service of Agathocles, had made themselves masters of 
Messana.f From this place they became dangerous neighbours 
to Syracuse. A young man of good birth, named Hiero, who 
had won distinction in the Sicilian campaigns of Pyrrhus, gained 
a signal victory over these marauders at Centuripa, and was by 
his grateful compatriots proclaimed king. This was about the 
year 2*70 B.C. For some time the Mamertines remained quiet, 
and Hiero was occupied in securing his power at Syracuse, But 
in 264 B.C. the new King resolved to destroy this nest of 
robbers, and advanced against Messana with a force superior 
to any they could bring into the field against him. The Ma- 
mertines, in this peril, were divided as to the best means of 
seeking succour. One party wished to call in the Cartha- 
ginians, who Avere close at hand : another preferred alliance 
with Rome. The latter prevailed, and envoys were despatched 
to demand immediate aid. The Senate were well inclined to 
grant what was asked ; for they knew that, if they did not inter- 
fere, Carthage would ; and to see Messana, a town with a good 
harbour, and separated from Italy by so narrow a strait, in the 
hands of Carthage, might have given alarm to a less watchful 
government. Yet shame restrained them. It was barely six 
years since Hiero had assisted them in punishing the Campanian 
legion which had seized Italian Rhegium, as the Mamertines 
had seized Sicilian Messana. In this perplexity, the Senate de- 
clined to entertain the question. But the Consuls, eager for 
military glory, immediately brought the matter before the Centu- 
riate Assembly, which straightway voted that support should be 
given to the Mamertines, or in other words, that the Carthaginians 
should not be allowed to gain possession of Messana. The Consul 
App. Claudius, son of the old Censor, was to command the army ; 
and he sent his kinsman, C. Claudius, to assure the Mamertines 
of approaching aid. 

§ 11. During this delay, however, the Carthaginian party among 

* Chapt. xxvi § 12. f Chapt. xxv. § 1. 

12 



266 KOMB AND CARTHAGE. Book IT. 

the Mamertines had prevailed, and Hanno, with a party of Car- 
thaginian soldiers, had been admitted into the town. But the. 
arrival of Appius soon changed the face of affairs. After being 
once driven back by the fleet of Hanno, he succeeded in landing 
his troops to the south of the town ; and immediately attacking 
Hiero, he defeated him with such loss, that the prudent King 
gave up the siege and retired to Syracuse. Next day the Romans 
fell upon Hanno, and also defeated him. Messana was now free. 
The Consul pursued his successes by plundering the Syracusan 
dominions up to the very gates of the city. 

§ 12. The Romans, having now set foot in Sicily, determined to 
declare war against Carthage, so as to anticipate any plan which 
she might have of assailing Italy. It is probable that the Senate, 
recollecting the rapid success of Pyrrhus, who in two years 
almost swept the Carthaginians out of the island, reckoned on a 
speedy conquest : else, after their late exhausting wars, they 
would hardly have engaged in this new and terrible conflict. 
But they were much deceived. The first Punic War, which 
began in 263 B.C., did not end till 241, having dragged out its 
tedious length for three-and-twenty years. The general history 
of it is most uninteresting. All the great men of Rome, who 
had waged her Italian wars with so much vigour and ability, 
were in their graves ; we hear no more of Decius, or Curius, or 
Fabricius ; and no worthy successors had arisen. The only men 
of note who appear on the Roman side are Duillius and Regulus. 
But the heroes of Carthage are no less obscure. No one on their 
side is worthy of mention, except the great Hamilcar ; and he 
appears not till near the close of the war, and is to be mentioned 
not so much for what he then did as for the promise of what he 
might do hereafter.- 




Coin of a Liviadus with head of Ecgulus. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

FIRST PUNIC WAR (263 241 B.C.). 

§ 1. Pirst Punic "War divided into Three Periods. § 2. First Period. Suc- 
cess of Romans : sack of Agrigentum. § 3. Eomans build a fleet of Quin- 
queremes. § 4. Sail to the North of Sicily. § 5. Grappling engines, called 
Corvi. § 6. Carthaginians defeated by DuQlius of Mylse. § 'T. Cartha- 
ginians lose greater part of Sicily. § 8. Second Period. Regulus and 
Manlius set sail for Africa : great victory at sea oif Ecnomus. § 9. Army 
landed at Clupea. § 10. Romans advance to Carthage. Great defeat of 
Regulus by Xanthippus. § 11. Fleet entirely lost. § 12. Fresh Fleet 
bunt. Panormus taken. § 13. Second Fleet lost. Romans give up the 
Sea^ § 14. Victory gained by MeteUus at Panormus. § 15. Embassy and 
death of Regulus. § 16. Criticism of this event. § It. Third Period. 
Third Fleet built. Siege of LUyb^um. § 18. Headstrong folly of Claudius: 
part of Fleet destroyed at Drepanum, the rest by a storm off Camarina. 
§ 19. Hamilcar. § 20. Fourth Fleet built. § 21. Battle of the ^gatian 
Isles. § 22. Terms of Peace with Carthage. § 23. Review of the War. 
Prospects. 

§ 1. To make tlie dreary length, of this war more intelligible, it 
may conveniently be divided into three periods. The first com- 
prises its first seven years (263-25Y), during which the Romans 
were uniformly successful, and at the close of which they had 
driven the Carthaginians to the south and west coasts of Sicily. 
The second is an anxious period of mingled success and failure, also 
lasting for seven years (256-250) : it begins with the invasion of 
Africa by Regulus, and ends with his embassy and death. The 
third is a long and listless period of nine years (249-241), in 
which the Romans slowly retrieve their losses, and at length con- 
clude the war by a great victory at sea. 

§ 2. First Period (263-257). — The ill success of Hanno at 
Messana so displeased the Carthaginian government that they 



268 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book lY. 

ordered the unfortunate general to be crucified. They had mani- 
festly not calculated on the aggressive spirit of Eome, and had no 
force on foot sufficient to meet her armies in the field. The 
Romans pursued their first success with vigour. In the year 263 
B.C. both the Consuls crossed over into Sicily with an army of 
forty or fifty thousand men. On their appearance, a vast number 
of the Sicilian towns, weary of being the objects of contention be- 
tween Carthaginians and Syracusans, declared in favour of the new 
power, which might (they hoped) secure their independence 
against both ; for at present no one dreamed of a permanent occu- 
pation of the island by the Romans. No less than sixty-seven 
towns are said to have taken this course. Hiero, a prudent man, 
■was struck by the energy of the new invaders. " They had con- 
tjuered him," he said, " before he had time to see them." He 
.shrewdly calculated that the Carthaginians would prove inferior 
in the struggle, and forthwith concluded a treaty of alliance with 
Rome, by which he was left in undisturbed possession of a smalt 
but fertile region lying round Syracuse : some more remote towns, 
as Tauromenium, being also subject to his sceptre. From this 
time forth to the time of his death, a period of forty-seven years, 
he remained a useful ally 9f the Roman people. In 262 b.c. both 
Consuls laid siege to the city of Agrigentum, which, though far 
fallen from her ancient splendour, was still the second of the Hel- 
lenic communities in Sicily. Another Hanno was sent with a 
force from Carthage to raise the siege, and for some time fortune 
favoured him. He drew a second circle of entrenchments round 
the Roman lines, so as to intercept all supplies ; and thus the 
besiegers, being themselves besieged, were reduced to the greatest 
straits. JBut the Consul at length forced Hanno to give him battle, 
and gained a complete victory. Upon this the commandant of 
the garrison, finding further defence useless, slipped out of Agri- 
gentum by night, and deserted the hapless city after a siege of 
seven months. The Romans repaid themselves for the miseries 
they had undergone by indulging in all those excesses which 
soldiers are wont to commit when they take a town by storm after 
a long and obstinate defence. It is said that 25,000 men were 
slain. 

§ 3. This great success raised the spirits of the Romans. And 
now, for the first time, the Senate conceived the hope and formed 
the plan of expelling the Carthaginians entirely from Sicily : but 
after a short experience, that sagacious Council became aware 
that a fleet Avas indispensable for success. The coasts of Italy 
were infested by Carthaginian cruisers, and though it might 
always be possible to carry men and stores across the narrow 
strait of Messana, the want of roads in the mountainous dis- 



Chap. XXIX. FIRST FUNIC WAR. 269 

trict about ^tna made this an inconvenient place of transit. It 
was important for Rome to send her armies straight to Syracuse 
or Panormus ; and since the Carthaginians were masters of the 
sea, this could not be done without such a navy as might be able 
to cope with the fleets of the enemy. Nothing shows the courage 
and resolution of the Romans more than their manner of acting in 
this matter. It is no light matter for landsmen to become sea- 
men ; but for unpractised landsmen to think of encountering tho 
most skilful seamen then known might have been deemed a piece 
of romantic absurdity, if the men of Rome had not undertaken 
and accomplished it. 

What they wanted first was a set of ships, which, in size at 
least and weight, should be a match for those of the enemy. It is 
a mistake to suppose that the Romans had no fleet before this 
time. The treaties with Carthage sufliciently prove the contrary ; 
and on several occasions we hear of ships being employed by 
them. But these ships were of the trireme kind, formerly em 
ployed by the Greeks. The Carthaginians, like the Greeks after 
Alexander, used quinqueremes ; and it would have been as absurd 
for the small Roman ships to have encountered those heavier ves- 
sels, as for a frigate to cope with a three-decker. The Romans 
therefore determined to build quinqueremes. A Carthaginian ship 
cast ashore on the coast of Bruttii served as a model ; the forest 
of Sila, in that district, supplied timber. In sixty days from the 
time the trees were felled they had completed, probably by the 
help of Greek artisans, a fleet of one hundred quinqueremes and 
twenty triremes ; and while it was building, they trained men to 
row in a manner which to us seems laughable, by placing them on 
scaffolds ranged on land in the same way as the benches in the 
ships.* (266 B.C.) 

§ 4. The Consul Cn. Cornelius put to sea first with seventeen 
ships, leaving the rest of the fleet to follow ; but he was surprised 
near Lipara and captured, with the whole of his little squadron, by 
the Carthaginian admiral. His plebeian colleague, C. Duillius, 
was in command of the army in Sicily ; but as soon as he heard 
of this disaster, he hastened to take charge of the main body of 
the fleet, and with it he sailed slowly along the north coast of 
Sicily. 

§ 5. Meantime, the Roman shipwrights had contrived certain 
engines, by means of which their seamen might grapple with the 
enemy's ships, so as to bring them to close quarters and deprive 
them of the superiority derived from their better construction 

* All this rests on the weighty authority of Folybius (i. 20 and 21), except 
the time spent in building the fleet, which is given by Fliny {Nat. Hist. xvi. 
14). 



270 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IY. 

and the greater skill of their crews. These engines were callec"". 
crows (corvi). They consisted of a gangway S6 feet long and 
4 broad, pierced with an oblong hole towards one end, so as to 
play freely round a strong pole 24 feet high, which was fixed 
near the ship's prow. At the other end was attached a strong 
rope, which passed over a sheaf at the head of the pole. By this 
rope the gangway was kept hauled up till within reach of the 
enemy's ship : it was then suddenly let go, and as it fell with all 
its weight, a strong, sharp spike on its under side (shaped like 
a crow's beak) was driven fast into the enemy's deck. Then 
the Eoman men-at-arms poured along the gangway, and a mere 
stand-up fight followed, in which the best soldiers were sure to 
prevail. 

§ 6. Thus prepared, Duillius encountered the enemy's fleet. 
He found them ravaging the coast at Mylae, a little to the west 
of Palermo. The admiral was the same person who had com- 
manded the garrison of Agrigentum, and was carried in an enor- 
mous septireme, which had formerly belonged to Pyrrhus. 
ISTothing daunted, Duillius attacked without delay. By his rude 
assault the skilful tactics of the Carthaginian seamen were con- 
founded. The Eoman fighting-men were very numerous, and 
when they had once boarded an enemy's ship, easily made them- 
selves masters of her. Duillius took thirty-one Carthaginian ships 
and sunk fourteen. For a season, no Roman name stood so high 
as that of Duillius. Public honours were awarded him ; he was 
to be escorted home at night from banquets and festivals by the 
light of torches and the music of the flute ; a pillar was set up in 
the Forum, ornamented with the beaks of the captured ships, and 
therefore called the Columna Eostrata, to commemorate the great 
event : fragments of the inscription still remain.* And no doubt 
the triumph was signal. To have defeated the Mistress of 
the Sea upon her own element in the first trial of strength 
was indeed remarkable, and might justify almost any amount of 
extravagant exultation. The honours conferred upon the con- 
queror cannot but give a pleasing impression of the simple life 
and manners then prevailing at Eome, especially when we con- 
trast them with the cruelty of the Carthaginian Government, 
who crucified their unfortunate admiral for this and other mis- 
chances. 

§ 7. The sea-fight of Duillius was fought in the year 260 b.c. 
The next three years passed with no very remarkable successes. 
In 259 we learn that L. Scipio, Consul of the year, made a de- 

* In the Capitoline Museum at Rome — probably a copy of the original, 
made when the Columna Rostrata was restored by the Emperor Augustus. 



Chap. XXIX. FIRST PUNIC WAR. 2Yl 

scent upon Sardinia and Corsica. But in the following year the 
Consul L. Atilius Calatinus had nearly suffered a great reverse. 
He advanced incautiously into a defile in the western part of 
the island, and was entirely hemmed in, when he was delivered 
by the military skill and bravery of M. Calpurnius, one of the 
legionary tribunes in his army, and the imminent disaster was 
changed into a victory, which the Senate deemed worthy of a 
triumph. 

On the whole, it is clear that the Carthaginians were now only 
able to act upon the defensive. Not only Agrigentum, but Cama- 
rina, Gela, Enna, Egesta, and many other cities had surrendered 
to the Eomans. The Carthaginians were confined to their great 
trading marts, Drepana, Lilybseum, Eryx, and Panormus. They 
did not dare to meet the Romans in the field ; yet these places 
were very strong, especially Lilybseum. Against its iron fortifica- 
tions all the strength of Pyrrhus had been broken. It was not 
time yet for Carthage to despair. 

But in the eighth year of the war the Senate determined on 
more decisive measures. They knew the weakness of the Cartha- 
ginians at home ; they had a victorious fleet, and they determined 
not to let their fortune slumber. 

§ 8. Second Period (256-250 B.C.). — Duillius appears for a 
brief time as the hero of the first part of the war ; but its second 
period is marked by the name of a man who has become famous 
in the whole world as a hero and a patriot, — M. Atilius Regulus. 
His claim to these high titles has of late years been questioned and 
denied, and shall be shortly examined when we come to the close 
of his career. At all events, he fills a commanding place among 
the men of the first Punic War. 

It was in the year 256, the eighth of the war, that the Consuls, 
M. Regulus and L. Manlius, sailed from Italy and doubled Cape 
Pachynum Avith a fleet of 330 quinqueremes. The Carthaginian 
fleet, even larger in number, had been stationed at Lilybseum to 
meet the enemy, whether they should approach from the north 
or from the east. They now put to sea, and sailed westward 
along the southern coast of Sicily. They met the Roman fleet 
at a place called Ecnomus, a little more than half way along 
that coast. The battle that ensued was the greatest that, up 
to that time, had ever been fought at sea : it is calculated that 
not fewer than 300,000 men were engaged. It was desperately 
contested on both sides ; but at Ecnomus, again, we are astonished 
to find the Roman fleet victorious. It must be presumed that 
they still employed the corvi to baffle the superior skill of the 
enemy, and turn a sea-fight into the similitude of a battle ou 
land. 



272 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book W. 

§ 9. The way was now open to Africa. The Consuls, after re- 
fitting and provisioning their fleet, sailed straight across to the 
Hermajan Promontory, which is distant from the nearest point of 
Sicily not more than eighty miles. But the omens were not 
auspicious ; the Roman soldiery went on board with gloomy fore- 
bodings of their fate ; nay, one of the tribunes refused to lead his 
legionaries into the ships, till Regulus ordered the lictors to seize 
him. The passage, however, was favoured by the wind. The 
Consuls landed their men, drew up the fleet on shore, and fortified 
it in a naval camp ; and then, marching southward, they took the 
city of Aspis or Clupea by assault. 

No Carthaginian army met them : every place they came near, 
except Utica, surrendered at discretion ; for they were unfortified 
and defenceless. Carthage, being of old mistress of the sea, feared 
no invaders : like England since the Civil Wars, she ieffc her cities 
unwalled, trusting for defence rather to her ships than to stone 
walls. Yet she had not been unwarned. Sixty years before, the 
adventurous Agathocles had landed like Regulus. Then, as now, 
the whole country lay like a garden before him, covered with 
Avealthy towns and the luxurious villas of the Carthaginian mer- 
chants. Then two hundred towns or more had surrendered almost 
without stroke of sword. It appeared as if the same easy success 
now awaited Regulus and the Romans. 

§ 10. The Consuls were advancing along the coast of the gulf 
towards Carthage, when, at a critical moment and for reasons 
we know not of, Manlius was recalled with the greater part of 
the army, and Regulus was left in Africa with only 15,000 foot 
and 500 horse. Yet even with this small force he remained mas- 
ter of the country. The Libyans (as has been said) off'ered no 
resistance or joined the invader ; and the Carthaginian generals, 
after venturing one battle in which they were worsted, did 
not again meet the Consul in the field. He had gone round 
the whole Gulf of Tunis as far as Utica, and now he turned 
upon his steps with the intention of marching upon the capital 
itself. On his way he was obliged to cross the river Bagradas, 
and here (so ran the legend) the army was stopped by a huge 
serpent, so strong and tough of skin that they were unable to 
destroy it, till they brought up their artillery of catapults and 
balists :* he then continued his route southwards to the Bay of 
Carthage. He was allowed to take Tunis, which stood within 

* ISTo mention of this is made by Polybius, the most ancient and most 
antlientic historian of tlie war. Its subsequent invention shows how easily 
semi-mythical legends may intrude themselves even into the history of well- 
known times, and certainly is one of the circumstances which indicate that the 
fame of Regulus is partly due to the family pride of the AtOian Gens. 



Chap. XXIX. FIRST PUNIC WAR. 273 

twenty miles of Carthage. The great city was now reduced to 
the utmost straits. A Roman army was encamped within sight ; 
the Numidiaus took advantage of the enemy's presence to overrun 
and plunder the whole country ; famine stared the townsmen in 
the face ; the Government trembled. In this abject condition the 
Council sent an embassy to ask what terms of peace Regulus 
would grant. The Consul was so elated by success, so confident in 
his power, that he demanded the most extravagant concessions. 
The Carthaginians were to give up their fleet, pay all the expenses 
of the war, and cede all Sicily, with Sardinia, Corsica, and the 
Balearic Isles, to Rome. When these terms were reported the 
Government took care to publish them, and public indignation 
rose against the arrogant invaders. The civic force was, as we 
have said,* not untrained to arms, and they had now to fight for 
their hearths and altars. A good general was sought for. At 
that time there happened to be at Carthage a soldier of fortune, 
by name Xanthippus, a Lacedaemonian. This man had been heard 
to censure the ordinary tactics of the native generals, and to de- 
clare that the victories of the Romans were due, not to their own 
superior skill and valour, but to the faults committed by their 
opponents. He was summoned before the Council and desired 
to give reasons for his remarks. He did so ; and, for a moment, 
the Government, dismissing all jealousy, appointed this obscure 
foreigner general in chief. Xanthippus immediately drew to- 
gether all the mercenaries he could find, and united them 
Avith the armed citizens ; then, supported by a large body of 
elephants, he boldly took the field. The Romans were aston- 
ished ; but they were too much accustomed to victory to hesi- 
tate about accepting battle. But they were both outnumbered 
and outgeneraled. Xanthippus gained a victory as easy as 
it was complete. Regulus himself was taken prisoner ; only 
2000 of his men succeeded in making good their retreat to 
Clupea. 

Thus was Carthage delivered by the ability of one man, and 
that man a foreigner. The Government did not improve in wis- 
dom or generosity; their old and incapable generals resumed 
the command; Xanthippus, loaded Avith honours and presents, 
prudently withdrew from the jealous city, and is heard of no 
more. 

§ 11. The Roman Senate, on the other hand, did their best to 
repair this great calamity. The new Consuls Avere ordered to 
put to sea, and bring ofl:' the garrison and fugitives from Clupea. 
J^ear the Hermsean Promontory they encountered the enemy's 

* Chapt. xxviii. § T. 
12* 



274 ROME AND CARTHAGE. BOOK FV. 

fleet, and again defeated it ; and then, having taken up the ships 
and men at Clupea, they sailed for Syracuse. But now a still 
greater disaster was in store for Kome than the destruction of her 
African army. This was the loss of that fleet of which she was 
justly proud. The time of year was about the beginning of the 
dog-days, when the Mediterranean is apt to be visited by sudden 
storms. The Consuls, upon their passage, were warned that such a 
storm was at hand ; but they were ignorant and rash, and con- 
tinued their course. Before they could double Cape Pachynum 
they were caught by the tempest; almost the whole fleet was 
wrecked or foundered ; the coast of Sicily from Camarina to Pa- 
chynum was strewed with fragments of ships and bodies of men. 
Such was the end of the Roman fleet. 

§ 12. These successive disasters might well raise the hopes of 
Carthage, and they sent a considerable force into Sicily with 140 
elephants. Agrigentum is said to have been recovered, and no 
doubt it was expected that the whole island would once more 
become their own. But the Romans, aptly compared by Horace 
to the hydra which grows stronger from successive mutilations, 
showed a spirit equal to the need. In three months' time (so won- 
derful was their energy), a new fleet of 220 sail was ready for 
sea.* The Consuls of the year 254 B.C., having touched at Mes- 
sana to take up the remnants of the old fleet, passed onward to 
Drepanum. They could not take this strong place, but they were 
more successful at Panormus, the modern Palermo, which yielded 
after a short siege to the Roman arms. This was an important 
conquest. 

§ 13, Next year the fleet touched at several places on the Afri- 
can coast, but without making any impression on the country. 
Among the shoals and currents of the Lesser Syrtis it ran great 
danger of being k)st ; but having escaped this peril, the Consuls re- 
turned to Panormus and thence stood straight across for the mouth 
of the Tiber. On the passage they were overtaken by another of those 
terrible storms, and again nearly the whole fleet was lost. Thus, 
within three years, the Romans lost two great fleets. This was 
enough to damp even their courage ; and the Senate determined 
to try whether it were not possible to keep their ground in Sicily 
without a navy. For the present they gave up all claim to the 
command of the sea, and limited themselves to a small fleet of 
sixty ships. 

§ 14. Matters continued in this state for two years. Neither 
party seemed willing to hazard a battle by land ; but in 250 B.C. 
Hasdrubal, the Carthaginian general, was induced to march 

* The grave Polybius ia voucher for this fact. 



Chap. XXIX. FIRST PUNIC WAR 2V5 

secretly from Lilybseum to Panormus, in the hope of surprising and 
recovering that important town. The Roman commandant was 
the Proconsul L. Cajcilius Metellus. He allowed the enemy to 
approach the walls, and then suddenly sallied forth, covering his 
attack by a cloud of light troops, slingers, and javelin-men. Some 
of the elephants being wounded, carried confusion into their own 
ranks, and Metellus, seizing the occasion, charged the enemy and 
defeated them utterly. Besides 13 Carthaginian generals, 120 
elephants were taken and carried across the sea on strong rafts to 
adorn the triumph of the Proconsul. The battle of Panormus was 
the greatest battle that was fought on land in the course of the war, 
and it was the last. In memory of this victory we find the elephant 
as a frequent device on the coins of the great family of the 
Metelli.* 

§ 15. After the battle of Panormus, the hopes of the Romans 
rose again, and the Senate gave orders to build a third fleet of 200 
sail. But the Carthaginians, weary of the expenses of the war, and 
suffering greatly in their commerce, thought that a fair opportunity 
for making peace was now offered. The Romans had recovered in 
some measure from their late disasters, but not so entirely but that 
they might be glad to listen to fair terms. Accordingly an 
embassy was dispatched to offer an exchange of prisoners and to 
propose terms on which a peace might be concluded. Regulus 
(according to the well-known story) accompanied this" embassy, 
under promise to return to Carthage if the purposes of the embassy 
should fail. When he arrived at Rome he refused to enter the 
walls and take his place in the Senate, as being no longer a citizen 
or a senator. Then the Senate sent certain of their own number 
to confer with him in the presence of the ambassadors, and the 
counsel which he gave confirmed the wavering minds of the 
fathers. " Useless it was," he said, " to ransom prisoners who had 
ignobly yielded with arms in their hands : let them be left to perish 
unheeded ; let war go on till Carthage be subdued." His coun- 
sel prevailed, and the embassy returned without effect. Regulus 
also returned to suffer the vengeance of the Carthaginians. Every 
one knows the horrid tortures by which it is said that life 
was taken from him ; how his eyelids were cut off; how 
he was placed in a barrel stuck full of nails, with one end 
knocked out ; and how he was exposed to the unmitigated glare 
of an African sun, to die by the slow agonies of pain, and thirst, 
and fever. 

§ 16. Regulus was a man of the old Roman kind, like Curius 
and Fabricius, devoted to his country, eager for glory, frugal, 

* See a coin of Metellus Scipio figured at the end of this chapter. 



.276 ROME AND CAETHAGE. Book IT: 

bold, resolute or (call it) stubborn. He has been censured for ex- 
cessive presumptuousness in liis African campaign, and for the 
extravagance by vi^hich he lost all the advantages which he might 
have secured. But it must be allowed that he had some grounds 
even for overweening confidence. Ever since the two nations 
had met in arms, the star of Carthage had grown dim before that 
of Rome. Even on the sea, where her navies had long ridden 
triumphant, the Queen of the Mediterranean had twice been 
beaten by her unskilled rival. There was enough to make more 
sagacious men than Regulus believe that Carthage was well nigh 
powerless against Rome. The Romans had yet to learn that 
when the jealous government of Carthage allowed great generals 
to command their armies, such as Xanthippus, and Hamilcar, and 
Hannibal, then the well-trained mercenaries might gain easy 
victories over their own brave but less practised citizens. The 
whole story of the embassy and -death of Regulus has been 
doubted, chiefly because of the silence of Polybius, the most 
authentic historian of the time ; and from the certainty that at 
least one mythical marvel has been introduced into the narrative.* 
But if allowance be made for some patriotic exaggeration, there 
is nothing improbable in the story. Those who crucified their 
own unlucky generals would not be slow to wreak any measure 
of vengeance on a recusant prisoner. We read also that the 
Romans i^taliated by torturing some Carthaginian prisoners,! and 
this fact can hardly be an invention. At all events, the personal 
qualities of Regulus rest too firmly on old tradition to be 
questioned. While we read the beautiful passage in which Cicero 
describes his disinterested patriotism ;J while we repeat the noble 
Ode, in which Horace paints him as putting aside all who would 
have persuaded him to stay — people, friends, and family, going 
forth to torture and death with the same serene indifference as if 
he were leaving the busy life of Rome for the calm retirement 
of his country house ; § — so long will the blood flow more 
quickly and the heart beat higher at mention of the name of 
Regulus. 

With the failure of this attempt at peace closes the second 
period of the war. 

§ 17. Third Period (249-241). — It has been said that the 
Senate, encouraged by the victory of Panormus, resolved once 
more to attempt the sea. In the year 249 b.c, the third fleet 
was ready, and its purpose soon became evident. The Consuls 

* Above, § 10. 

f Niebuhr supposes that these tortures are a fact, and that the story of the 
tortures of Regulus arose out of them, — a somewhat gratuitous suppositioru 
t De Ofaciis, iii. 27. § Carm., iii. 5. 



Chap. XXIX. FIRST PUNIC WAR. 277 

• were ordered to invest Lilyba3um, tlie queen of Carthaginian fort- 
resses, botli by sea and land. If this strong place fell, the Cartha- 
ginians would have no firm hold on Sicily ; but it could not be 
taken unless it were blockaded by sea, for by sea supplies could be 
poured into it from Carthage. The blockade of Lilybseum was the 
thing that made a fleet necessary at this time. 

The Eomans began the siege with great activity ; they con- 
structed enormous works, they endeavoured to throw a dam across 
the harbour, but in vain. The skilful seamen of Carthage con- 
trived to carry provision-ships into the harbour through the midst 
of the Koman fleet. Their own navy lay near at hand in the Bay 
of Drepanum, ready to take advantage of any remissness on the 
part of the Romans. 

§ IS. Yet the invincible perseverance of the Eomans would 
have prevailed, but for the headstrong folly of the Patrician Consul 
for the year 249 B.C. This was P. Claudius, a younger son of 
the old Censor, brother of him who had relieved Messana. As ho 
lay before Lilybseum, he formed a plan for surprising the enemy's 
fleet at Drepanum, and left his station for this purpose. In vain 
he was warned by the PuUarii, that the sacred chickens would not 
feed. "Then let them drink," said the irreverent commander, 
and threw them into the sea. But the men were much dispirited 
by the omen and by the contempt of the omen. And the Consul 
had managed matters with so little secresy and skill, that the 
enemy were informed of his intended attack. As the Eomans 
sailed in column into the harbour, the Carthaginian fleet was seen 
sailing outward. But on a sudden they tacked and bore down 
upon the side of the Eoman column. Of Claudius' two hundred 
and twenty ships, only thirty escaped. The reckless Consul was 
recalled to Eome by the Senate, and ordered to supersede him- 
self by naming a Dictator. With the old insolence of his 
family he named the son of one of his own freedmen, by name 
Claudius Glycias. But the Senate set aside the nomination, and 
themselves appointed A. Atilius Calatinus, who was also called 
Serranus.* What became of Claudius we know not. But he 
was dead three years after ; for a story is preserved, that at 
that time his sister insolently expressed a wish that he were 
still alive, that he might lose more men, and make the streets 
less crowded. She was heavily fined for this speech ; and if 
words deserve punishment, none ever more deserved it than 
hers. 

The loss of the fleet of Claudius was not the only disaster 

* " Vel te sulco, Serrane, serentem." — Aen. vi. 844. The story told of 
Cincinnatus is here transferred to Calatinus : see Chapt. ix. § 4. 



278 EOMB AND CAETHAGE. Book IV. 

of tlie year. L. Junius, his Plebeian colleague, was less guilty,' 
but even more unfortunate. He was convoying a large fleet 
of ships, freighted with supplies for the forces at Lilybseum, 
when, near Camarina, he was overtaken by a tremendous 
hurricane, and both the convoy and the convoying squadron 
perished. The destruction was so complete, that every single 
ship was broken up, and not a plank (says Polybius) was fit 
to be used again. 

Thus, by the folly of one Consul and the misfortune of the other, 
did the Romans lose their entire fleet for the third time. It 
seemed to them as if the god of the sea was jealous of these new 
pretenders to his favour. 

§ 19. These disasters left the Carthaginians once more masters 
of the Sea. And at the same time a really great man was 
appointed to a command in Sicily. This was Hamilcar, the 
father of Hannibal, of whom we shall have a better opportunity to 
speak hereafter. He does not seem to have had many ships or 
troops at his command ; but the skill with which he used his 
means abundantly shows what might have been done if the 
government had trusted him more completely. He made continual 
descents on the coasts of Italy, plundering and alarming. Before 
long he landed suddenly near Panormus, and in the face of the 
Roman commandant seized a hill called Hercte, which overhung 
the town (the same with the modern Monte Pellegrino). 
Here he fortified himself; and hence he carried on a con- 
tinual predatory warfare against the Romans for the space of three 
years. After this, by an equally sudden movement, he made a 
descent on Eryx, which had been taken by the Romans not long 
before, and surprised it. To this place he now shifted his quarters, 
and continued the same harassing attacks for the remaining years 
of the war. 

Except for this, matters were at a stand-still. Neither party 
made any advance. The whole strength of the Romans was con- 
centrated in the lines of Lilybseum ; but they had no fleet now, 
and therefore the place was fully supplied from the sea. On the 
other hand, Hamilcar acted like a perpetual blister, and kept 
the enemy always in alarm ; but either his forces were too 
small, or the Romans were too watchful to allow him to 
make any great impression. Slight actions constantly took 
place ; and an anecdote is told by Diodorus, Avhich sets the 
character of Hamilcar in a pleasing light. In a skirmish with the 
Roman Consul, C. Fundanius, he had suffered some loss, and 
sent (according to custom) to demand a truce, that he might 
bury his dead. But the Consul insolently replied that he ought 
to concern himself about the living rather than the dead, 



Chap. XXIX. FIRST PUNIC WAR. 2*79 

and save further bloodslied by surrendering at once. Soon after it 
was Hamilcar's turn to defeat the Romans, and when their com- 
mander sent for leave to bury their dead, the Carthaginian General 
at once granted it, saying that he " w^arred not with the dead, but 
with the living."* 

§ 20. These interminable hostilities convinced the Senate that 
they must once more build a fleet, or give up all hopes of driving 
the Carthaginians out of Sicily. Lilybseum would foil all their 
efforts, as it had done those of Pyrrhus. The siege had now 
lasted eight years, from 250 to 241, and it appeared no nearer its 
conclusion than at first. All sacrifices must be made. A fleet 
must be built. And it was built. At the beginning of the year 
241 B.C., the Patrician Consul, Q. Lutatius Catulus, put to sea with 
more than two hundred sail.f 

This was the fourth navy which the Romans had created. 
Three times had they lost the whole by storms or by mismanage- 
ment. It is impossible not to admire this iron determination ; im- 
possible not to feel satisfaction at seeing it rewarded. 

§ 21. The Consul, with his new fleet, sailed very early in the 
year. He immediately blockaded Drepanum by sea and land, hop- 
ing to take it at once, and so deprive the Carthaginians of the harbour 
in which their fleet commonly lay to watch the Romans at Lily- 
bseum. He also took great pains to train his seamen in naval 
tactics. In an action which took place at Drepanum he was 
severely wounded. 

On the other hand, the Carthaginians had of late neglected 
their navy ; and it was not till early in the following year (241) 
that a fleet was dispatched to the relief of Drepanum. It was 
heavily freighted with provisions and stores. Hanno, its com- 
mander, touched at Hiera, a small island, about twenty or twenty- 
five miles from the port of Drepanum. Of this (it appears) Catu- 
lus was informed. He was still suffering from his wound, but he 
at once embarked and put to sea, hoping to intercept the enemy 
before they unloaded their ships. On the evening of the 9th of 
March he lay to at JEgusa, another small island, not above ten 
miles distant from Hiera. Next morning the Carthaginians put to 
sea and endeavoured to run into Drepanum. But they were in- 
tercepted by the Roman fleet, and obliged to give battle. They 
fought under great disadvantages, and the Romans gained an easy 
victory. Fifty of the enemy's ships were sunk, seventy taken ; the 
rest escaped to Hiera. 

§ 22. This battle, called the battle of the ^gatian islands (for 
this was the general name of the group), decided the war. It was 

* " NuUum cum victis certamen et sethere cassis." — ^Yirg., Aen. xi. 105. 
f Polybius says 200 ; Justin and others say 300. 



280 nOUE AND CARTHAGE. Book IY. 

plain that Lilybseum must now surrender ; and that though Hamil- 
car might yet stand at bay, he could not recover Sicily for the 
present. The merchants of Carthage were eager for the conclu- 
sion of the war ; and the government sent orders to Hamilcar to 
make a peace on the best terms he could obtain. Catulus at first 
required, as a preliminary to all negociations, that Hamilcar should 
lay doAvn his arms, and give up all Roman deserters in his service. 
But when the Carthaginian disdainfully refused this condition, the 
Consul prudently waived it, and a treaty was finally agreed on by 
the two commanders to the following eflfect : — that the Carthagi- 
nians should evacuate Sicily ; should give up all Roman prisoners 
without ransom ; and should pay 2,200 talents, in twenty years, 
towards the expenses of the war. This treaty, however, was sub- 
ject to the approval of the Roman people, and the tribes refused 
to ratify it without inquiry. Accordingly the Senate sent over 
ten envoys, who confirmed the treaty of Catulus, except that 
they raised the sum to 3,200 talents, and required this larger 
sum to be paid in ten years, instead of twenty. They also in- 
sisted on the cession of all the small islands between Italy and 
Sicily. 

The treaty was immediately executed. Lilybseum, Dre- 
panum, Eryx, and the other places still held by the Carthagi- 
nians, were surrendered, and Hamilcar embarked his troops for 
Carthage. 

§ 23. Thus ended the first Punic War. The issue of this long 
struggle was altogether in favour of Rome. She had performed 
few brilliant exploits ; she had sent few eminent men to conduct 
the war ; but she had done great things on the whole. She had 
beaten the Mistress of the Sea upon her own element. She had 
gained possession of a large and fertile island ; an island nearly 
twice as large as Yorkshire, and fertile beyond the example of 
other lands.* Her losses indeed had been enormous ; for she had 
lost seven hundred ships, a vast number of men, and large sums 
of money. But Carthage had suff"ered still more. For though 
she had lost not more than five hundred ships, yet the interruption 
to her trade, and the loss of her great commercial emporiums of 
Lilybseum and Drepanum, not only crippled the resources of the 
State, but largely diminished the fortunes of every individual citi- 
zen. The Romans and Italians, who fought in this war, were mostly 
agricultural ; and the losses of such a people are small, and soon 
repaired, while those suff"ered by a great commercial state are often 
irreparable. 

* Sicily became the first province. But as it was lost again a few years 
after, and all the known rules of government date from the second conquest, 
all notice of the provincial system of Eome shall be deferred. See Chapt. xxxvL 



Chap. XXIX. 



FIRST PUmO WAR, 



281 



This war was only the prelude to a more fierce and deadly- 
contest. Carthage had withdrawn discomfited from Sicily, and 
her empty treasury and ruined trade forbade her to continue the 
conflict at that time. •• But it was not yet decided whether Rome 
or Carthage Avas to rule the coasts of the Mediterranean, The 
great Hamilcar left Efyx without despair. He foresaw that by 
patience and prudence he might shake off the control of his 
jealous Government, and train up an army in his own interest, 
with which he might defy the Roman legions.* Unfortunate 
circumstances prevented him from the execution of this project 
for the next four years. After that (as we shall see) he began that 
policy which was so successfully carried out by his celebrated 
son. 

* See Polyb., i. 60. 




Coin of Metellus Scipio, referring to Battle of Panormus. 




Temple of Janus closed, on a Coin of Nero. 



CHAPTER XXX. 



EVENTS BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND PUNIC WARS. 



§ 1. Origin and progress of the Mercenary "War at Carthage : Spendiua 
and Matho. § 2. Hamilcar commissioned to check it : thwarted by Hanno. 
§ 3. Hamilcar made sole commander : he compels Spendius to surrender. 
§ 4. Obstinate resistance of Matho : he murders Gisgo and other prisoners : 
end of War. § 5. Ungenerous conduct of Rome. § 6. Hamilcar goes to 
Spain. § 1. Affairs of Rome : Temple of Janus closed. § 8. Illtrian 
"War : Piratical tribes of lUyrian coast : Queen Teuta murders a Roman 
Envoy. § 9. Demetrius of Pharos, Teuta's governor of Corcyra^ treacher- 
ously joins Rome : Teuta obliged to consent to hard terms. § 10. Honour 
paid to Romans in Greece. § 11. Gallic War : Gauls provoked to war 
by proposal of Plaminius to plant settlements in Picenum and Umbria. 
§ 12. Enormous forces at disposal of Rome: plan of campaign. § 13. 
Great defeat of Gauls at Telamon in Btruria. § 14. Invasion of Transpa- 
dane Gaul. § 15. MarceUus wins spolia opima. § 16. Colonies planted at 
Placentia and Cremona. § 11. Revolt of Demetrius of Pharos, easUy sub- 
dued by .iEmilius Paulus. § 18. Hamilcar's operations in Spain: Hanni- 
bal's oath. 

§ 1. The first Punic War lasted three-and-twenty-years ; and the 
interval between the end of this war and the beginning of the next 
was of nearly the same duration. In the course of this period 
(from 240 to 218 b.c.) both Eome and Carthage, notwithstanding 
their exhausted condition, were involved in perilous wars. In the 
next three years Carthage was brought to the very brink of de- 
struction by a general mutiny of her mercenary troops. This Mer- 
cenary War arose in the following manner. 

As soon as peace was concluded, it was necessary for Carthage 



Chap. XXX. THE MERCENARY WAR. 283 

to witlidraw all lier troops from Sicily, and pay them their 
arrears. The general who was entrusted with the charge of 
shipping off these troops, Gisgo, executed his trust with judg- 
ment and dexterity. He foresaw the danger that might arise, if 
the whole army, consisting of adventurers without country or 
law, were landed all at once on the shores of Africa. They might 
make war on their own account, like the Campanians of Rhe- 
gium, or the Mamertines of Messana. Gisgo therefore sent 
home the troops in small detachments, so that each might be 
paid off and disbanded before the next arrival. But he was ill 
seconded by the Government at home. The treasury was ex- 
hausted. No doubt money was to be raised on loans at high 
interest ; and perhaps the Council imagined that, by delaying 
payment, they might induce the soldiers to be content with a 
smaller sum than was their due. They therefore allowed the 
whole army to collect at Sicca, in the neighbourhood of the 
capital, before any measures were taken for payment of their 
arrears. The consequence was the reverse of what was expected. 
The reckless adventurers who commanded these mercenaries 
saw the weakness of the Government, and coveted the wealth 
and luxury of the great city, which seemed now within their 
grasp. They at once declared that they must have their full 
arrears of pay ; and presently added that now they would not be 
content even with this. To enforce these demands they en- 
camped at Tunis, almost within sight of Carthage. The Govern- 
ment became frightened, and offered to concede all demands. 
But with the fears of the Government rose the demands of the 
soldiers ; it soon became clear that the whole army was in open 
revolt, and their leaders bent on nothing less than conquering 
their masters. Their Carthaginian officers and commanders 
were discarded : two desperate and abandoned men gained 
supreme power over the whole army. These were Spendius, a 
runaway Campanian slave, who feared to be given up to the 
Romans ; and Matho, a Libyan, who had been too forward in 
urging the demands of the army to hope for forgiveness from 
the Carthaginian Government.' Led on by these desperadoes, 
the soldiers gave a full loose to their ferocity ; they seized Gisgo, 
who had been sent to treat with them, as a hostage ; plundered 
the country round about; raised the subject Africans in rebellion; 
besieged the fortified towns of Utica and Hippo ; and cut off all 
communication by land with the promontory on which Carthage 
stands. 

§ 2. In this desperate crisis, the Government turned their 
eyes on Hamilcar, and charged him with the office of saving his 
country. He promptly obeyed. The civic force of Carthage 



284 



EOME AND CARTHAGE. ■ Book lY: 



itself must have formed his chief force. By skilful persnasiori 
he induced the Numidian cavalry to desert and join his standard. 
Thus strengthened, he gave battle to the mutineers twice, and 
twice defeated them. He showed his policy hy sparing all 
prisoners, and offering free pardon to all that would at once sub- 
mit. Everything promised a speedy termination of this mutiny, 
when the Government again spoiled all. Hanno, who headed the 
most influential party in the Council, was jealous of Hamilcar, and 
procured his own appointment to a share in the command. The 
two generals were now continually at variance ; all the plans of 
Hamilcar were thwarted ; and the rebels again resumed the upper 
hand ; so much so indeed, that at the end of the second year they 
got possession of Utica and Hippo, and proceeded to besiege Car- 
thage herself. , 

§ 3. Immediate danger once more made the Government wise, 
and Hamilcar was again appointed to the sole command. He 
was enabled to tate the field with a better appointed force than 
before; for Hiero of Syracuse, and the Senate of Rome, both 
sent supplies to the exhausted Carthaginians, and interdicted all 
communication with the insurgents. Hamilcar soon succeeded 
in raising the siege of Carthage, and forced the rebel army to 
separate into two bodies, respectively commanded by Spendius 
and Matho. He first pursued Spendius, and reduced him to such 
extremities, that he surrendered at discretion, with Autaritus, the 
leader of the Gallic Mercenaries : he then turned his arms against 
Matho, and compelled this rebel chief to shut himself up in 
Tunis. 

§ 4. The spirit of the insurgents was now quite broken, and 
they would fain have given in. But Matho and his officers were 
fighting with halters round their necks, and whenever any one 
attempted to persuade peaceful measures, a knot of the more 
violent cried him down ; and thus, as usually happens in popular 
commotions, the real wishes of the greater part were drowned in 
the loud vociferations of a few bold and resolute desperadoes. 
What made the task of these men easier, was that the army was 
composed of a great many diffeTent nations; and the soldiers 
not being able to understand one another, could not so readily 
combine against their leaders. Almost the only word Avhich 
was understood by all, was the terrible cry of " Stone him, stone 
him!"* which was raised by the leading insurgents, whenever 
anj^ one rose to advocate peace, and was re-echoed by the 
mass in ignorance or fear. But Matho still feared the influence 
of Hamilcar over the troops, and he resolved to commit acts 
which would compromise himself and his followers still more 
* /3uAe (3ci?ie.—Po\jh., i. 69 and 80. 



CflAP. XXX. THE MERCENARY WAR. 285 

irrevocably. He took Gisgo, who had hitherto been kept as a 
hostage, with seven hundred other prisoners, cut off their hands 
and ears, broke their legs, threw them, yet living, into a pit, 
and declared that he would treat all other prisoners in the same 
barbarous fashion. Hamilcar, who had hitherto used all gentle- 
ness, Avas by this brutal conduct driven to retaliation : he crucified 
Spendius, and threw his other prisoners to wild beasts. 

But this frightful state of things did not last much longer. 
The insurgents in Tunis were now reduced to the last extremi- 
ties of famine, and at length Matho was obliged to lead out his 
men to battle. He was utterly defeated, taken prisoner and put 
to death. 

The death of Matho terminated this terrible war, which had 
lasted more than three years and four months, and at one time 
threatened the very existence of Carthage. It was known by 
the name of the War Without Truce, or the Inexpiable War.* 

§ 5. The forbearance shown by the Romans to Carthage 
during this fearful war makes their conduct at its close very 
surprising. For now they were guilty of an act which was 
not only unjust, but dishonourable. The mercenary troops 
in Sardinia had mutinied after the example of their brethren, 
had slain Bostar, their Carthaginian commandant, and had taken 
possession of the island. After the close of the war in Africa 
these insurgents, fearing that their turn was come, put them- 
selves under Roman protection ; and their prayer for aid, like 
that of the Mamertines, was granted. The Senate had the 
effrontery not only to demand the cession of Sardinia and Cor- 
sica, but also the payment of a further sum of 1,200 talents. 
The Carthaginians were too weak to refuse ; not even Hamilcar 
could have counselled them to do so. But this ungenerous 
conduct sank deep into many hearts, and strengthened Hamil- 
car's grim resolve, to take full vengeance on the grasping Italian 
Republic. 

§ 6. In order to execute this resolve, it was necessary for him 
to obtain an independent authority, so as to form armies and 
carry on campaigns, without being fettered by the orders of the 
narrow-minded government. And now seemed the time to 
obtain this authority. Hanno and the leading members, of the 
council had long been jealous of the family of Barca,f of which 
Hamilcar was the chief. Hamilcar's fame and popularity was 
now so high, that it was possible he might form a party and 
overthrow the usurped power of the council. It was therefore 

* TtoTiEfioQ uanovSog. — Polyb. i. 65. 

f Barca, or Barka, is the same word as the Hebrew Barak, which means 
lightning. 



286 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. 

with pleasure that they received his proposal to go to Spain and 
reduce that country under the Carthaginian power. Carthage 
already had settlements in the south of Spain, and the old trad- 
ing city of Gades was in alliance with her. But the rest of the 
country was peopled by wild and savage tribes, who could not 
be conquered in a day. No doubt the government of Carthage 
saw the departure of Hamilcar for Spain with as much inward 
satisfaction as the French Directory in 1V9Y witnessed the 
departure of Napoleon for Egypt. If he succeeded, he would at 
least be far distant, and long absent ; if he failed, they would 
be rid of one whom they feared and hated. Before we trace the 
consequences of this extension of Carthaginian power in Spain, 
the affairs of Eome and Italy claim our attention. 

§ 7. During the Mercenary War in Africa, the Eomans had 
remained at peace, except to quell an insignificant revolt of the 
Faliscans, which was put down in less than a week. The northern 
frontier of Eoman Italy was slightly troubled by incursions on 
the part of Gauls and Ligurians ; and in more than one year a 
triumph is recorded over Sardinians and Corsicans, the new 
provinces so iniquitously wrung from Carthage. But so pro- 
found was the general tranquillity in the year 235 b.c, that the 
temple of Janus was closed by the Consul Manlius Torquatus, 
for the first time (say the annals) since the time of Numa. 
The people of Italy seem to have been little disturbed during 
the late war. Several Colonies had been founded in its course, 
of which one was Brundusium. In the last year of the war, the 
lower Sabine country was formed into two Tribes, the Veline and 
the Quirine. Thus the number of thirty-five was completed, 
and no addition was hereafter made to the Roman territory. 

§ 8. This tranquillity was of no long duration. The success 
of their arms in Sicily, and their newly acquired maritime 
power, encouraged the Romans to cross the Adriatic not so much 
for the purpose of advancing their own dominion as to render 
a service to all who frequented these seas for the purposes of 
traffic. 

The far side of the Adriatic consists of a narrow ledge of 
coast-land flanked by parallel mountain-chains. Many islands 
appear off the shore, and several large creeks or bays afford 
safe anchorage for ships. These natural advantages made the 
lUyrians of the coast skilful seamen. Their light barks (lembi)*' 

* The Illyrian seamen long continued the use of these light vessels. The 
Liburnian galleys used by Augustus at Actium were from these coasts. 
Therefore Horace (Epod. i. 1) saya to Maecenas, 

" Ibis Liburnis inter alta nayium, 
Amice, propugnacula." 



Chap. XXS. ILLYRIAN" PIRATES. 287 

issued from behind the islands or out of the creeks, and practised 
piracy on their neighbours. The lower part of this Illyrian 
district had been reduced by Philip of Macedon, but on the 
confusion which followed the death of Alexander, the people 
had become independent. The main stronghold of this lower 
Illyria seems to have been Scodra (Scutari), and a chief named 
Agron had established a supremacy for his tribe over all his 
neighbours as far as the Ceraunian mountains. He died in 231 
B.C., and his wife Teuta, a woman of bold and masculine spirit, 
became chief of this piratical race during the infancy of Agron's 
son Pinnes. She pursued her husband's designs, and in 230 B.C. 
had made herself supreme over all the islands except Issa, which 
she blockaded in person in that year. 

The Senate had not hitherto found leisure to attend to the 
many complaints which reached them of the assaults committed 
by these pirates. But in the year just named, they resolved to 
take measures for checking their marauding expeditions, and 
sent C. and L. Coruncanius as Envoys to remonstrate with Teuta. 
They found her, it seems, at Issa. But Teuta was little disposed 
to listen to them. " It was not," she said, " customary for the 
Chiefs of Illyria to prevent their subjects from making use of the 
sea." The younger Coruncanius, indignant at this avowal of 
national piracy, replied that " if such were the institutions of' 
the Illyrians, the Romans would lose no time in helping her to 
mend them." Exasperated by the sarcasm, Teuta ordered the 
Envoys to be pursued and the younger one to be put to death. 
Upon receiving news of this violent act, the Romans at once 
declared war against the Illyrians. 

§ 9. After the surrender of Issa, the Illyrian Queen had pur- 
sued her success by the capture not only of Dyrrhachium, but 
also of Corcyra ; and Demetrius, a clever and unscrupulous Greek 
of Pharos (a place on the coast of Upper Illyria), who had been 
the chief counsellor of Teuta in her late enterprises, was made 
Governor of this famous island. 

Upon this, the Epirotes sent Ambassadors to crave protection 
from Rome ; and the Senate, already preparing for war, gladly 
took advantage of this opening. Early in the next spring both 
Consuls appeared at Corcyra with a powerful fleet and army. 
Demetrius quickly discerned to which side fortune would incline, 
and without hesitation took his course. He surrendered Corcyra 
to the Romans without a blow. This treachery seems to have 
paralysed Teuta's spirit ; and the information given by Demetrius 
enabled the Roman commanders to overpower her forces with 
little trouble. Teuta was obliged to surrender the greater part 
of her dominions to the traitor Demetrius, who now became 



2 §8 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. 

Chief of Corcyra and soutliern lUyria, under the protection of 
Eome. The Illyrians were not to appear south of Lissus with 
more than two barks at a time. 

, § 10. The suppression of Illyrian piracy was even more advan- 
tageous to the commerce of Greece than that of Rome. The 
leading men of the Senate began, even at this time, to show a 
strong disposition to win the good opinion of the Greeks, who, 
degenerate as they were, were still held to be the centre of civili- 
sation and the dispensers of fame, Postumius the Consul, 
therefore, ' sent envoys to various Greek states to explain the 
appearance of a Roman force in those quarters. They were 
received with high distinction. The Athenians and Corinthians, 
especially, paid honour to Rome ; and the latter people recog- 
nised her Greek descent by voting that her citizens should be 
admitted to the Isthmian games (228 B.C.). 

§ 11. This short but decisive war was scarcely ended, when 
Rome saw a conflict impending, which filled them with more 
alarm than was warranted by the event. 

It will be remembered that just before the war with Pyrrhus, 
the Senonian Gauls had been extirpated, and the Boians defeated 
with great slaughter in two battles near the lake Vadimo in 
Etruria (283 B.C.)* From that time, some sixty years before, 
the Gauls had remained quiet within their own boundaries. 
But in 292 B.C., the Tribune C. Flaminius, a man who will 
hereafter claim more special notice, proposed to distribute all 
the public lands held by Rome on the Picenian and Umbrian 
coasts to a number of poor citizens ; a law which was put 
into effect four years afterwards. When the Colonies of Sena 
Gallica and Ariminum had been planted on that same coast, the 
Boians were too much weakened by their late defeats to offer 
any opposition. But in two generations their strength was re- 
cruited, and they were encouraged to rise against Rome by the 
promised support of the Insubrians, a powerful tribe who occupied 
the Transpadane district about Milan. The arrival of large bodies 
of Gauls from beyond the Alps f completed their determination, 
and increased the terror which the recollections of the Alia still 
wrought upon the Roman mind. 

* See Chapt. xxv. §§ 13 and 14. 

f They were called Gaesatae, which Polybius (ii. 22, 1) explains as merce- 
naries. But it is hardly possible to avoid connecting the name with gaesa, 
the Gallic javeUns mentioned by Virgil and others : 

" duo quisque Alpina coruscant 

Gsesa manu." — Aen. viii. 661. 
They are represented as very lightly clad, wearing tartan plaids {sagula 
virgata) and trews (braccae). Hence Transalpine Gaul was called Gallia 
Braccata, while the Romanised Cisalpine province was Gallia Togaia. 



Craf. XXX. GREAT GALLIC WAR. 289 

§ 12. Reports excaggerated these movements, and the Romans 
made larger preparation for this Gallic war than they had made 
against Pyrrhus or the Carthaginians. It is said that in the 
year 225 b.c. the men returned fit for active service in the 
Roman Tribes and among the various Italian Allies amounted to 
nearly 800,000 ; hut the forces called out for service were only a 
small portion of this vast national militia. A consular army 
amounting to about 25,000 foot and 1500 horse was sent under 
j^milius to Arminium, while a Prsetor with an army of similar 
amount pushed forward to Fsesulse on the Arno. The other 
Consul, Atilius, who had been despatched early in the year to 
Sardinia, was ordered to join the Praator in Northern Etruria 
without delay. A reserve force of large amount was ready near 
Rome. 

These active preparations were seconded by superstitious rites. 
The Sybilline books were consulted, -and in them it was found 
written that the soil of Rome must be twice occupied by a 
foreign foe. To fulfil this prediction, the Government ordered 
a Gaulish man and woman, together with a Greek woman, to 
be buried alive in the Forum. By this barbarous folly it was 
hoped the alarm of the people might be calmed, and the omen 
averted, 

§ 13. The campaign opened in ISTorthern Etruria. The Gauls 
crossed the Apennines into the vale of the Arno and fell 
suddenly upon the Prsetor stationed at Faesulse. Him they 
overpowered, and defeated with great slaughter. The Consul 
u^milius now, with great promptitude, crossed the Umbrian 
hills into Etruria ; and on his approach the Gauls retired north- 
Avards along the coast, wishing to secure their booty ; while 
JEmilius hung upon their rear, without venturing to engage in 
a general action. But when the Gauls came near Pisa, they 
found that the Consul Atilius had landed there from Sardinia ; 
and thus hemmed in by two consular armies, they Avere obhged 
to give battle at a place called Telamon. The conflict was 
desperate ; but the Romans were better armed and better disci- 
plined than of old, while the Gauls had remained stationary. 
Their large heavy broad-swords, forged of ill-tempered iron, bent 
at the first blow, and while they stooped to straighten them 
with the foot, they were fully exposed to the thrust of the short 
Roman sword. The victory of Telamon was as signal as that of 
Sentinura or that of the Lake Vadimo. ^milius pursued the 
flying host across the mountains, and brought home a large booty 
from the Boian lands to grace the triumph. 

§ 14. The Consuls of the next year (224 b.c.) again invaded 
the Boian country, and received the complete submission of all 

13 



290 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. 

the tribes on the left bank of the Po. They were prevented 
from pursuing their successes by a pestilence in their army. But 
in the following year C. Flaminius, who was the reputed cause 
of the war, was Consul with P. Furius, and these Consuls pushed 
across the Po, with the resolution of punishing the Insubrians 
(Milanese) for the part they had taken in the invasion of 
Etruria. The place at which they crossed the great river was 
somewhere above Mantua ; and here they formed a league with 
the Cenomanni, who were at deadly feud with the Insubrians. 
Assisted by these auxiliaries, they moved westward across the 
Adda, which was the boundary of the Insubrian district. Fla- 
minius now appears to have had the chief command. Despatches 
arrived from the Senate addressed to him, forbidding him to 
invade the Insubrian country. But suspecting their contents, 
he laid them aside unopened, and at once gave battle to the 
enemy, who had advanced to drive him into the Adda. The 
Eomans, however, beat them back triumphantly ; and then 
Flaminius, opening the despatches, laughed at the caution of the 
Senate.* 

§ 15. The war was brought to an end in the fourth campaign. 
During the winter the Insubrians sued for peace ; but the new 
Consuls, Cn. Cornelius Scipio and M. Claudius Marcellus — after- 
wards so celebrated — persuaded the Senate to reject the appli- 
cation. The Consuls both marched north, and entered the Insu- 
brian territory. But Marcellus hearing that Viridomarus, the 
Insubrian chief, had crossed the Po to ravage the country lately 
occupied by the Romans, left his colleague to reduce the prin- 
cipal towns of the Insubrians, while he pursued the chief with 
his army. He came up with him near Clastidium, and attacked 
him with his cavalry alone. A smart action ensued, in which 
Marcellus encountered Viridomarus, and slew him with his own 
hand ; and the Gauls fled in disorder. Thus were won the third 
and last Spolia Opima. Meanwhile Scipio had taken Mediolanum 
(Milan), the chief city of the Insubrian Gauls, and the war was 
concluded (b.c. 221). 

§ 16. Soon after this, it was resolved, probably at the instance 
of Flaminius, to plant two colonies, Cremona and Placentia, on 
opposite sides of the Po, so as to secure the territory lately won 
in the Boian and Insubrian territories. But the execution of this 
project did not take place till three years later, when Hannibal was 
on his march. Probably the same interruption prevented the 
large tract of country which had been conquered on the Po 

* If we believe Polybius (ii. 23), the victory was due to the military skill 
of the legionary tribunes. Flaminius is strongly censured for the reckless way 
in which he accepted battle, without providing for retreat in case of defeat. 



Chap. XXX. HAMLLCAR IN SPAIN. 291 

from being at once formed into a Province. A few jears after- 
wards we liear it spoken of under the name of the province of 
Ariminum ;* but when this Province was constituted we are 
not informed. Communication Avas secured between Rome and 
Ariminum by a road constructed in the Censorship of Flaminius, 
which bore his name (220 b.c). 

§ 17. During this great disturbance in Italy, Demetrius of 
Pharos proved as false to his new patrons as he had been 
to Teuta. Relying on the promised support of the king of 
Macedon, he assumed the air of an independent chief, and 
encouraged his subjects in the piratical practices, which he had 
been placed at Corcyra to prevent. In 219 b.c. L. JEmilius 
Paullus, the Patrician Consul, received orders from the Senate to 
put a stop to these proceedings. In one short campaign he 
reduced Corcyra, took Pharos, and forced Demetrius to take 
refuge at the court of his new patron, Philip king of Macedon, 
where we shall find him at a later time, active in promoting hos- 
tilities against Rome. Perhaps lUyria, as well as Gaul, might then 
have been occupied as a Province, but for the sudden events that 
checked the progress of the Roman arms. Left to itself, it again 
fell into the hands of native chiefs. The Romans, however, kept 
possession of the island of Corcyra, together with the strong 
towns of Oricum and Apollonia, with a small surrounding district, 
— positions which were of great service to them afterwards in the 
Macedonian wars. 

§ 18. Thus triumphant on all sides and on all sides apparently 
secure, the Roman government had no presentiment of the storm 
that had long been gathering in the West. We must now return 
to the time at which Hamilcar, as has been related,f was preparing 
to cross over into Spain. 

He crossed the straits of Gibraltar in 235 b.c. With him 
went his son-in-law Hasdrubal, and his son Hannibal, then a boy 
of nine years old, but even then giving promise of those qualities 
which afterwards made him the terror of Rome. Hamilcar had 
not intended to take him to Spain ; but the boy pleaded so 
earnestly, that the father yielded on condition that he should 
swear eternal enmity to Rome and the Romans. Hannibal him- 
self, in his old age, told the tale to Antiochus, king of Syria, how 
that he was led to the altar of his country's gods, and took this 
direful oath.J How well he kept it the sequel will prove. 
Nothing can more strongly show the feelings with which Hamil- 
car left his country. He went not as the servant of Carthage, 

* In the year 205 B.C. See Liv. xxviii. 38 : '^Ariminum, — ita Galliam 
appeUabant." 

f Above, § 6. X Polyb., iu. 12. 



292 ROME A'NB CARTHAGE. Book IV. 

but as the enemy of Rome, with feelings of personal hostility, not 
to be appeased save by the degradation of his antagonist. 

His first object was to conquer Spain, and thus put Carthage 
in possession of a province which might itself become a great 
kingdom, and was worth many Sicilies and Sardinias. One of 
the chief advantages he proposed to himself in this conquest 
was the unlimited supply of hardy soldiers, which would be 
given by the possession of Spain. But he was Avell aware that 
for this purpose conquest was not sufficient ; he must enlist the 
feelings of the Spaniards in his cause ; he must teach them to 
look up to himself and his family as their friends and bene- 
factors. Accordingly he married a Spanish lady of Castulo ; he 
lived among the natives like one of themselves ; he taught them 
to work their rich silver mines ; and in all ways opened out the 
resources of the country under his sway. Meanwhile he col- 
lected and disciplined an excellent army, with which he reduced 
many of the ruder tribes to the northward of the modern Anda- 
lusia and Murcia. Thus he reigned (this is the best word to 
express his power) with vigour and wisdom for eight years ; and 
in the ninth he fell in battle, admired and regretted by all 
southern Spain. His forecast and sagacity, combined with great 
activity, resolution, and knowledge of men, gave him all the 
qualities of a great general and a great sovereign. It is a remark 
of Aristotle's that men of brilliant abilities seldom leave those 
abilities as an inheritance. In the times of which we write, 
Hamilcar and Hannibal, as Philip of Macedon and Alexander 
before them, afford remarkable exceptions to this rule. 

§ 19. Hannibal was yet only in his eighteenth year, too young 
to take up the work which Hamilcar had left unfinished. But 
Hasdrubal, the son-in-law of the great commander, proved his 
worthy successor. He at once assumed supreme authority. By 
the gentler arts of conciliation he won over a great number of 
tribes ; and in order to give a capital to this new realm, he 
founded the city of New Carthage, now Carthagena, on the coast 
of Murcia. The successes of Hamilcar had at length attracted 
the notice of the Roman Senate ; and in the year 227 b.c, the 
first of Hasdrubal's command, they concluded a league with the 
latter general, whereby the river Ebro was fixed as the northern 
boundary of the Carthaginian empire in Spain. Hasdrubal fell 
by the knife of an assassin in the year 221 e.g., the seventh of his 
command. 

§ 20. Hannibal was now in his twenty-fourth year. He was 
at once elected by the acclamations of the army to stand in his 
great father's place. Nor did the government venture to brave 
the anger of a young general at the head of an army devoted to 



Chap. XXX. HANNIBAL IN SPAIN. 293 

liis cause. Hannibal remained as ruler of Carthaginian Spain. 
The office was becoming hereditary in his family. He set himself 
to realise his father's designs. 

Hamilcar had enlarged the Carthaginian rule in Spain from a 
few trading settlements to a great province. Hasdrubal had car- 
ried the limits of this province as far as the Sierra of Toledo. 
Hannibal immediately crossed this range into the valley of the 
Tagus, and reduced the Celtiberian tribes which then occupied 
Castille. He even passed the Castilian mountains which form the 
upper edge of the basin of the Tagus, and made the name of Car- 
thage feared among the Vaccseans in the valley of the Douro, by 
taking their chief town Helmantice (Salamanca). At the close of 
the year 220 b.c, all Spain south of the Ebro and Douro was in 
subjection to Carthage, or in alliance with her. The great quali- 
ties of the three men through whom they knew her made them 
not unwilling vassals. 

§ 21. But there was one city south of the Ebro which still 
maintained independence. This was Saguntum, an ancient colony 
from the Greek island of Zacynthos. Its site on the coast of 
modern Valencia is marked by the present town of Murviedro 
(Muri Veteres), rather more than half-way between New Car- 
thage and the mouth of the Ebro. Saguntum, like Massilia, had 
been for some time in alliance with Rome'; and therefore, though 
it was on the Carthaginian side of the Ebro, was by Roman cus- 
tom entitled to support. In the year 219 b.c. this city was at 
war with a neighbouring tribe, and Hannibal eagerly accepted 
an invitation to destroy the ally of his enemy. He surrounded 
Saguntum with a large army. The siege began ; but the people 
held out for eight months against all his assaults with that heroic 
obstinacy which seems to distinguish all dwellers on Spanish 
ground, when engaged in defensive warfare. In many respects, 
the siege of Saguntum brings that of Saragossa to mind. The 
booty obtained by the conqueror was of great use in fitting out 
his army for the next year's campaign. 

§ 22. While the siege yet lasted, the Roman Senate had sent 
envoys to Hannibal, requiring him to desist from attacking their 
ally. He replied coldly, that "he could not answer for their 
safety in his camp; they had better seek redress at Carthage." 
They went on their way : but meantime the news of the fall 
of Saguntum reached Rome, and an embassy was sent to Carthage 
to demand that Hannibal, the author of the mischief, should be 
given up. There was a large party, that of Hanno and the 
government, which would probably have complied with their de- 
mand. But the memory of Rome's dishonourable conduct at 
the close of the Mercenary War dwelt in many hearts ; and the 



294 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. 

government did not dare to oppose the general feeling. Nor in- 
deed were they themselves altogether averse from such a war as 
Hannibal proposed to wage against Rome ; they might expect 
the brunt of it to be borne by him and his Spaniards : at all 
events it would remove the young ambition of the general far 
from home, and might end by ruining him altogether. They 
replied that " Saguntum was not mentioned in the treaty of 
Hasdrubal ; but even if it were, that treaty had never been rati- 
fied by the government, and therefore was of no authority." Then 
Q. Fabius Buteo, the chief of the Roman Envoys, doubling his toga 
in his hand, held it up and said : " In this fold I carry peace and 
war : choose ye which ye will have." " Give us which you will," 
replied the Suffet. " Then take war," said the Roman, letting his 
toga fall loose. " We accept the gift," cried the Senators of Car- 
thage, " and welcome." 

Thus was war formally declared against Rome. But before we 
pass on to the narrative of this war, it will be well to form some 
idea of the extraordinary man who, by his sole genius, undertook 
and supported it with success for so many years. 

§ 23. Hannibal was now in his twenty-eighth year, nearly of 
the same age at which Napoleon Bonaparte led the army of the 
French Republic into Italy. And Avhen we have named Napo- 
leon, we have named, perhaps, the only man, ancient or modern, 
who can claim to be superior, or even equal, to Hannibal as a 
general. Bred in the camp, he possessed every quality necessary 
to gain the confidence of his men. His personal strength and 
activity were such, that he could handle their arms and perform 
their exercises, on foot or on horsebeck, more skilfully than 
themselves. His endurance of heat and cold, of fatigue and 
hunger, excelled that of the hardiest soldier in the camp. He 
never required others to do what he could not and would not do 
himself. To these bodily powers he added an address as winning 
as that of Hasdrubal his brother-in-law, talents for command 
fully as great as those of his father Hamilcar. His frank manners 
and genial temper endeared him to the soldiery. His strong will 
swayed them like one man. The different nations who made 
up his motley arms — Africans and Spaniards, Gauls and Ital- 
ians — looked upon him each as their own chief. Polybius 
twice remarks, that amid the hardships which his mixed army 
underwent for sixteen years in a foreign land, there never was a 
mutiny in his camp.* The admirable versatility of the man 
was seconded by qualities required to make the general. His 
quick perception and great sagacity led him to marvellously 

* xi. 19; xxiv. 9. 



Chap. XXX. HANNIBAL. 295 

correct judgment of future events and distant countries, — wliicli in 
those days, when travellers were few and countries unknown, must 
have been a task of extraordinary difficulty. He formed his plans 
after patient inquiry, and kept them profoundly secret till it was 
necessary to make them known. But with this caution in design- 
ing Avas united marvellous promptness in execution. " He was 
never deceived himself," says Polybius, " but never failed to take 
advantage of the errors of his opponent."* Nor was he a mere 
soldier. In leisure hours he delighted to converse with Greeks on 
topics of intellectual cultivation. And we shall see hereafter that, 
as a statesman, he displayed ability hardly inferior to that which 
he had displayed as a general. 

Against these great qualities, he was traditionally reported to 
have been cruel even to ferocity, and treacherous beyond the 
common measure of his country .f But even if we believe the 
bad faith of Carthage to have been greater than that which 
Rome showed towards foreigners, yet we hear of no single occa- 
sion on which Hannibal broke faith with Rome. With regard 
to his cruelty, there can be no doubt that he was indifferent 
to human life when success could be gained by its sacrifice; 
and on several occasions we shall find him, under the influence 
of passion, treating his prisoners with great barbarity. But 
though he had been trained to consider the Romans as his 
natural enemies, to be hunted down like wolves, we shall find 
that he forgot not to treat worthy foemen, such as Marcellus, 
with the magnanimity of a noble nature. And after all, it is 
somewhat out of place to expect refined humanity from a leader 
of mercenaries, who had lived from his earliest boyhood in the 
midst of war. 

But whatever might be the ability, whatever the hardihood of 
the young general, he required it all for the enterprise he had now 
in hand. To penetrate from the Ebro to the Po, with chains of 
giant mountains to bar his progress, through countries partly bar- 
barous and for the most part hostile, without roads, or maps, or 
accurate knowledge of his route, without certain provision for the 
food and clothing of his army, without the hearty concurrence of 
his own Government, — was an undertaking from which the boldest 
might shrink ; and to have accomplished this march, with tri- 
umphant success would alone justify the homage whicli is still 
paid to the genius of Hannibal. 

* X. 33, 2. 

f " Has tantas viri virtutes ingentia vitia aequabant : inhumana crudelitas, 
perfidia plusquam Punica." — Li v. xxi. 4. 




Lake Trasimcne. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

SECOND PUNIC war: FIRST PERIOD (218 — 216 B.C.). 

1. The "War divided into Four Periods. § 2. Hannibal's preparations and 
forces. § 3. His march to the Ehone. § 4. Preparations of the Romans: 
Sempronius sent to Sicily, Scipio touches at Massilia. § 5. Passage of the 
Rhone. § 6. Scipio sends his brother into Spain, and himself returns to 
Italy. § 1. Hannibal marches up the Rhone to the Isere. § 8. Begins 
the passage of the Alps. § 9. Surmounts the Pass and reaches Italy. 
§ 10. His great losses: takes Turin. §11- Cavalry skirmish of the 
Ticinus. § 12. Retreat of Scipio: position of the two armies on tho 
Trebia. § 13. Battle of the Trebia. § 14. Preparations for second cam- 
paign : position of Flaminius. § 1 5. Hannibal's march through Etruria. 
§ 16. Battle of Lake Trasimene. § 17. Dismay at Rome: measures taken 
by the Senate. § 18. Course taken by Hannibal. § 19. Policy of Fabius : 
escape of Hannibal from Campania. §20. Discontent at Rome : t Minueius. 
§ 21. Review : Varro and Paullus Consuls for next year. § 22. Position 
of the two armies near Canusium. § 23. Varro resolves to give battle. 
§ 24. Preparations for the battle of Cannse. § 25. Battle of Cannas. 
§ 26. Feelings at Rome. § 27. Reasons for Hannibal not advancing to 
Rome: Embassy. §28. Firmness of the Senate. §29. Hannibal enters 



Chap. XXXI. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD I. 297 

Capua. § 30. Revolt of all Southern Italy, except Colonies and Free 
Towns. § 31. Embassy of Hannibal to Carthage. § 32. The Scipios in 
Spain. §33. Prospects of Hannibal. §34. Senate fiUed up : economical 
measures. § 35. Philip of Macedon : Oppian Law. 

§ 1. The war whicli began with the invasion of Italy by Han- 
nibal lasted for seventeen years. Its changing scenes and for- 
tunes will be made more clear by separating it into Periods, as 
was done with the First Punic War. These Periods shall be 
Four. 

The First comprehends the victorious career of Hannibal, from 
the Passage of the Alps in 218 e.g., to his winter-quarters at Capua 
in 216-15. Each year is marked by a great battle — Trebia, Tra- 
simene, Cannae. 

The Second is of Five Years, in which the Romans, by caution 
and wariness, avoid signal defeats, and succeed in recovering Capua 
while they lose Tarentum (215-211 B.C.). 

The Third, of Four Years, in which Hannibal, left without sup- 
port from home, is obliged more and more to confine himself to 
the mountain regions of Calabria, relying on the succours to be 
brought him from Spain by his brother Hasdrubal. It ends with 
the disastrous Battle of the Metaurus, which destroyed his hopes 
(211-207 B.C.). 

The Fourth, of Four Years, in which Hannibal stands at bay in 
the extremity of Italy, while the main scene of the war shifts to 
Spain, Sicily, and Africa. It terminates with the great battle of 
Zama, and the peace which followed (206-202 B.C.). 

But during the former periods of the great war, the Roman 
arms were also engaged in Spain, in Sicily, and in Epirus. From 
the very beginning of the war they maintained the conflict in 
Spain. After 215 B.C. they were obliged to besiege Syracuse and 
reconquer Sicily, as well as Sardinia. In 212 b.c. they declared 
war against Philip of Macedon, in order to prevent him from send- 
ing aid to Hannibal in Italy. Fitting opportunities will occur to 
speak of the first two wars ; but the Macedonian War will be con- 
veniently deferred to the next Book. 

§ 2. The winter of 219 was passed by Hannibal in active 
preparations for his great enterprise. His soldiers received leave 
of absence, with orders to be present at New Carthage at the 
very beginning of next spring. He sent envoys into the south 
of Gaul and north of Italy, along his intended line of march, 
with instructions to inform the Celts on both sides of the Alps 
of his expedition, — to win the Transalpine Gauls with hopes of 
the plunder of Italy, to rouse the Cisalpines by promises of de- 
livery from the Roman yoke. These envoys returned early in 

13* 



298 EOME AND CAKTHAaE. Book IV. 

the year 218 with favourable accounts of the disposition of the 
Gallic tribes : the Passage of the Alps they reported to be diffi- 
cult and dangerous, but not impracticable. 

Thus assured, Hannibal reviewed his troops at New Carthage. 
The army of invasion amounted to 90,000 foot and 12,000 horse, 
with some fifty elephants.* The infantry were mostly Spanish, 
the veteran soldiers of Hamilcar and Hasdrubal, recruited by new 
levies of his own. The Spaniards, however, were kept in balance 
by a large body of Libyan mercenaries, drawn over from Africa in 
exchange for about 15,000 Spaniards, whom he placed at the dis- 
posal of the Home Government. The light infantry, slingers and 
archers, were from the Balearic Isles. Of the cavalry, the heavy- 
troopers were Spanish, while the light horse were furnished by 
Numidia ; and the whole of this arm was placed under the com- 
mand of the fiery Maharbal. 

Hasdrubal, the brother of Hannibal, was left at New Carthage, 
to rule the lately-conquered province of Spain, and to raise an 
army of reserve for the Italian war. Mago, his youngest brother, 
accompanied the general. 

§ 3. Having left New Carthage about the end of May, he 
marched with no interruption to the Ebro ; but as soon as he had 
crossed that river, the whole country up to the Pyrenees was hos- 
tile. By great rapidity of movement, though with the loss of 
many men, he reduced all the tribes to submission in a few weeks ; 
and leaving an officer in charge of this newly-acquired district, 
with 11,000 men, he pushed forward to the Pyrenees. Here his 
Spanish soldiers first discovered that they were to leave their own 
country for strange and unknown lands ; discontent appeared in 
the camp ; 3,000 Carpetanians, a tribe which had not been long- 
conquered, seized their arms and set off homewards. Upon this, 
Hannibal, with prudent frankness, called the troops together, told 
them his whole design, and gave all who were unwilling to go on 
free leave to return. Nearly 8,000 more availed themselves of 
this permission. 

He passed round the eastern end of the Pyrenees, where the 
mountains sink gently towards the sea, and halted his army for a 
few days at Ruscino (Roussillon). On a review, it appeared that 
the losses he had sustained, together with the 22,000 men whom 
he had either left in Catalonia or dismissed, had reduced his foot 
to 50,000, and his horse to 9,000. With this force he advanced 
almost unopposed to the banks of the Rhone. 

§ 4. It is now time to inquire what the Romans were doing to 
meet the coming danger. 

* Polybius saw at Lacinium in Southern Italy a bronze table left there by 
Hannibal on which these numbers were inscribed (iii. 34, 18). 



Chap. XXXI. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD I. 299 

The Senate had not been idle in preparation. But they had 
acted on the supposition that the Second Punic War would, like 
the First, be fought on foreign soil. It is almost amusing to con- 
trast their expectations with the actual result of the year's cam- 
paign. The Plebeian Consul, Tib. Sempronius Longus, was sent 
to Lilybaeum with a large fleet, and instructed to invade Africa. 
The other Consul, P. Cornelius Scipio, was ordered to land in 
Spain and take the field against Hannibal. And it is plain that 
the Senate thought this service was the least important of the two, 
because they detained Scipio's army rather than that of Sempro- 
nius, to quell a rebellion which broke out this summer in Cis- 
alpine Gaul. This rebellion was caused by the proceeding of the 
Triumviri, who had been sent to distribute the confiscated lands 
of the Boians and Insubrians among the settlers in the new colo- 
nies of Placentia and Cremona.'* Just at this time the envoys of 
Hannibal arrived, and the Gauls rushed to arms. The Ti'iumviri 
were taken prisoners ; the colonists fled to Mutina (Modena) ; and 
L. Manlius the Praetor was obliged to retire. It was to repress 
this outbreak that one of Scipio's legions was sent oif in all 
haste : the Consul could not set sail for Spain till he had raised a 
new legion. 

It is plain, however, that his movements must still have been 
very measured. For he was only just leaving Pisa for Spain when 
he heard that Hannibal had already crossed the Pyrenees. 

On receiving this news he put in at the allied city of Massilia 
(Marseilles), and disembarked there, intending to meet Hannibal 
upon the Rhone. He did not expect him there for some time yet, 
and therefore he gave his army some days' rest, while he de- 
spatched a reconnoitring party of 300 picked horse, to move from 
Marseilles up the left bank of the Rhone, under the trusty guidance 
of some Massaliots. 

§ 5. But Hannibal had crossed the Rhone while these horsemen 
were on their way up the river. The point at which he reached 
it was not far above Avignon, about fifty miles from the coast.f 
The river itself is large, and the rapidity of its stream pro- 
verbial. But, besides these natural difficulties, he found the left 
bank occupied by a large host of Gauls. Upon this, he imme- 
diately made preparations for forcing the passage, by seizing all 
the boats he could, and constructing rafts. After two days spent 
in this way, he sent Hanno, son of Bomilcar, with a strong detach- 
ment of cavalry, to cross the river about twenty miles higher up, 
so that, returning down the other bank, he might come upon the 

* Above, Chapt. xxx. § 16. 

f Four days' march. Roquemaure is the place fixed upon by the conjec- 
ture of several geographical critics. 



300 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book lY. 

rear of tlie Gauls. On the morning of tlie third day after his 
departure, Hanno signalled his arrival to Hannibal by a column 
of smoke ; and the Carthaginians, who were ready to put off 
their boats and rafts, immediately pushed into the stream. The 
Gauls flocked down to the Avater's • edge, brandishing their arms 
and uttering wild yells of defiance. But while the boats were in 
mid stream, a cry arose from the rear ; and, looking round, the 
Barbarians beheld their tents in flames. They hastened back, 
and were charged by Hanno with his cavalry. Meanwhile, the 
first divisions of the army landed, and forming under the General's 
eye, attacked' the Gauls in rear ; and for the remainder of the 
day the Carthaginians lay encamped in the enemy's late quarters. 
All the army, except the elephants, had effected the passage. 
It was on this very day that Scipio sent off his 300 horse from 
Marseilles. 

On the next morning (the sixth after his arrival on the Rhone) 
news reached Hannibal that the Romans had landed. Upon this 
he instantly despatched a body of 400 Numidian horse to recon- 
noitre, while he himself spent the day in preparation for bringing 
over the elephants. At this moment, some Boian and Insubrian 
chieftains arrived from Italy to inform him of what their people 
were doing and had done against the Romans, and to describe 
in glowing colours the richness and beauty of the land which 
would welcome him after the toils of the Alpine Passage. This 
news had a great effect upon the army, which was somewhat dis- 
pirited by the opposition offered by the Gauls upon the Rhone. 
These barbarians, repented, it seemed, of encouraging the march 
of the Carthaginians, when they found the strangers really among 
them. The unknown language of all, the swarthy skins and un- 
couth forms of the Africans, the wild Numidian horse, the mon- 
strous elephants appalled them ; and the Carthaginians found 
enemies where they expected friends. The encouraging news 
from Italy came most opportunelj^ 

In the evening the Numidian horse galloped into camp in great 
disorder, having lost half their number. At some distance a 
body of cavalry appeared in pursuit, who reined in their horses on 
coming in view of the Carthaginian camp, and then turned about 
and rode off down the river. This was Scipio's reconnoiter- 
ing party, Avho had encountered the Numidians and defeated 
them. 

§ 6. Hannibal, finding the enemy so near at hand, and having 
.no intention to fight them till he reached Italy, sent off the 
whole of his infantry next morning to march up the left bank of 
the Rhone. He himself only stayed till he saw his elephants, now 
about thirty in number, safely across the stream ; and then, with 



Chap. XXXI. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD I. 301 

the clepliants and cavalry, lie followed the main body of his 
army. 

Scipio, on his part, so soon as he heard that the Carthaginians 
had already crossed the Rhone, proceeded by forced marches np 
the river. But it was three or four days after Hannibal's de- 
parture that he arrived at the point where the Carthaginians 
had crossed. It was in vain to pursue the enemy into unknown 
regions, peopled by barbarous tribes ; and Scipio had the morti- 
fication to reflect that, if he had marched at once from Mar- 
seilles, he might have come in time to assist the Gauls in barring 
Hannibal's passage. Not able to undo the past, he pi'ovided 
wisely for the future. He despatched his brother Cneius to 
Spain with the fleet and the consular army, deeming it of high 
importance to cut off communication between Hannibal and that 
country ; and himself returned to Pisa, to take command of the 
army of Manlius, which had suppressed the Gallic insurrection. 
He expected to be in time to meet Hannibal's army shattered 
and broken by the passage of the Alps, and to gain an easy 
victory. 

§ 7. Meanwhile, Hannibal continued his march up the Rhone, 
and crossing the Isere, found himself in the plains of Dauphine, 
then inhabited by the AUobrogian Gauls. He marched thus far 
north, about one hundred miles beyond the place where he had 
crossed the river, at the invitation of a chieftain who was con- 
tending for the dominion of the tribe with his younger brother. 
Hannibal's veterans soon put the elder brother in possession ; and 
the grateful chief furnished the army with a quantity of arms and 
clothing, and entertained them hospitably for some days. He 
then guided them to the verge of his own dominions, and topk his 
leave. This must have brought them to the point at which the 
Isere issues from the lower range of the Alps into the plain, some- 
where near the present fortress of Grenoble. 

§ 8. Up to this point there is little doubt as to the route taken 
by Hannibal ; but after this all is doubtful. It appears that he 
first had to force his way through a pass of the lower mountains 
just behind Grenoble, from which he emerged into a compara- 
tively open valley ; and here he assaulted a town belonging to 
the AUobrogian Gauls, who had attempted to bar his way through 
the above-named pass. Two or three days' march through this 
valley brought him to the foot of the main Alpine chain. Here 
he was met by the mountaineers with branches in their hands, 
in token of peace and friendship, off"ering to guide him over the 
pass. Hannibal accepted their ofters, only because he thought 
it dangerous to refuse, and took the precaution to secure his rear 
by a strong guard. On the third day, the faithless barbarians 



302 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IT. 

fell upon his rear, and were only repulsed with great loss both in 
men and horses. They continued to annoy his line of march by 
rolling huge stones down the steep sides of the mountain which 
overhung the path, till Hannibal prevented them from following, 
by seizing a strong white rock which entirely commands the pass. 
Here he kept the barbarians at bay till his baggage and cavalry 
were a day's march in advance ; and then followed, with the ele- 
phants in rear, for the mountaineers dared not come near these 
strange and unknown monsters. 

§ 9. In seven days* after he began the ascent did he reach the 
summit, Hannibal now endeavoured to cheer the fainting hearts 
of his weary soldiers, by pointing out the descending pathway 
which led to the plains of Italy. And here he halted two days to 
rest them and collect the stragglers. It was now near the end of 
October.f The last year's snow, frozen into ice, lay thick at the 
top of the pass, and fresh snow now began to fall, which covered 
the traces of the path. The ascent had been bad, but the descent 
threatened to be worse. 

Those who have walked over the main Alps, where they are 
traversed only by a mule-track, may in some degree imagine the 
difficulty of conveying an army with its stores and baggage over 
such a pass, especially at a season when the days are shortening 
and the snow constantly falling. Multitudes of men and cattle 
sank daily, worn out by hunger and fatigue. Their progress was 
further impeded by finding that in one place the pathway had 
slipped down or been carried away by an avalanche for a distance 
of a furlong and a half.J Before this place could be passed it was 
necessary to make the road good, and in miserable plight the 
army, was compelled to halt for nearly three days.§ In three days 
more they reached the bottom of the pass, having spent fifteen 
in the whole passage. 

§ 10. The extent of suffering which the army had gone through 
may be best estimated by considering the losses which it had 
sustained since the review at Roussillon. Oat of 50,000 foot 
and 9000 horse Hannibal had now remaining only 20,000 of the 

* Polybius says nine (iii. 53, 9). But tliis must include the two days' halt 
at the top of the pass. For the descent occupied at least six days (compare 
id., iii. 55, 8, with 56, 1); and the whole passage took fifteen days (56, 3). 

f About the setting of the Pleiades (Polyb., iii. 54, 1). This took place on 
the 29th October, according to Pliny (xviii. 31) ; on the STth, according to 
Columella (xi. 2, nX). 

X Livy's blunder of " mille pedum in aUiiudinem," where he should have 
said "in longitudinem," is well known. 

§ The stories of his softening the rocks by fire and vinegar are omitted. 
Polybius says not a word of such matters ; and there is little doubt that they 
are a romantic addition of the Latin writers. 



Chap. XXXI. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD I. 303 

former and GOOO of the latter.* A large number of his elephants 
had perished ; it is only wonderful that so many horse had 
survived. 

Hannibal descended among the mountains of the Salassians, 
and pushed on into the friendly country of the Insubrians 
(Milanese), where he rested his troops for some time, and pro- 
cured fresh horses for many of his cavalry. He then rewarded 
the good services of the Insubrians by lending them his aid 
against the hostile tribe of the Taurini, whose capital city (Turin) 
he took by assault.f 

§ 11. It was now December. He was moving down the left 
bank of the Po, above its junction with the Ticinus, and on the 
Piedmontese side of that river, when his cavalry came accident- 
ally in conflict with the Roman horse, commanded by the Consul 
Scipio himself. 

Scipio had returned to Pisa. Taking command of the army 
of the Praetor, he moved slowly through the Gallic country, in 
order to be ready to encounter Hannibal on his descent from 
the Alps. He crossed the Po near Pavia, and made a bridge 
over the Ticinus to secure his retreat ; then crossing the latter 
river, he began to march up the left bank of the Po, just as 
Hannibal was coming down it. Both generals were in advance 
with their cavalry, and came unexpectedly in sight of each other. 
A smart action followed, in which the Romans had the worst, 
and the Consul was severely wounded, his life being saved by 
the devotion of a Ligurian slave, or, as others said, by his son 
Publius, afterwards the great Africanus, then a youth only seven- 
teen years old. He fell back upon his main body and recrossed 
the Ticinus so rapidly that, in breaking up the bridge, he left 
600 men behind, who fell into the hands of Hannibal. This was 
the skirmish of the Ticinus, which proved Hannibal's superiority 
in cavalry. It had the effect of making the Boian Gauls on the 

* This also is taken from Hannibal's bronze plate at Lacinium. 

f From Grenoble on the Isere to Turin, geographers dispute about the 
route ascribed by Polybius to Hannibal. At one time, General Melville's 
route was adopted, which carried him over the low range between Grenoble 
and MontmeUlail into the valley of Chambery, up the Isere over the Little St. 
Bernard, down through the valley of Aosta into the Insubrian country, and 
so back to Turin. 

This is confessedly a long rouixi. And later writers prefer carrying him 
from Montmeihan up the Arc over the Mont Cenis, and straight down by 
Susa to Turin. 

Others again follow Liyy in taking him from Grenoble up the Romanche 
into the valley of Bourg d'Oisans, and so over the Mont Genevre (Cottian Alp) 
down to Turin. 

The controversy wiU probably last for ever. The data seem insufficient to 
enable us to form a positive judgment. 



304 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV, 

south of tlie Po declare in his favour. Those who were serving 
as auxiliaries in the Roman camp deserted ; and the Roman 
Triumviri, who had been seized early in the spring, were given 
up. to the Carthaginians. 

§ 12. Hannibal, after spending two or three days on the north 
side of the Po, crossed somewhere below Placentia ; and Scipio. 
not finding his position near that town secure, fell back so as 
to place the Trebia between himself and Hannibal. On the 
left bank of this river, he fortified a strong camp, with the purpose 
of awaiting the arrival of his colleague Sempronius, Avhom the 
Senate had ordered to hasten from Sicily into the north of Italy. 
Hannibal followed the Romans and encamped in view of them 
on the right bank of the Trebia. Here he received off'ers from a 
Brundusian, who was in charge of the Roman magazine at Clas- 
tidium, a town in Scipio's rear, to betray the place ; and it must 
have been while he was absent in this quarter that Sempronius 
joined Scipio. Sempronius, not daring to sail across from Sicily 
to Pisa at that time of year, had sent his army over the Straits 
of Messana, with orders to rendezvous at Ariminum ; and so 
expeditious were they that they performed the whole march 
from Lilybseum to Scipio's camp in forty days. After some 
days' rest, a foraging party of Hannibal's Avas attacked with some 
advantage by the Roman horse, and this slight success made 
Sempronius eager for a general action. Scipio endeavoured to 
dissuade him, but in vain ; and being still confined by the 
consequences of his wound, he was obliged to leave the Avhole 
army under the direction of his colleague. Hannibal, for his 
part, was equally anxious for a battle. The Gauls began to com- 
plain of the burthen of tAVO armies in their country, and victory 
Avas necessary to secure them in his interest. 

§ 13. The Trebia is a mountain stream, which in summer runs 
babbling over a broad gravelly bed, so shallow that the foot- 
traveller walks over it unheeding ; but in winter, or after heavy 
rains, it rises to a deep and rapid torrent. It Avas now nearly 
the end of December,* and Hannibal resolved that he would not 
cross the Avater to attack the Romans, but would make them 
cross it to attack him. He executed his purpose with great 
skill. On his left there Avas a sort of gully, thickly groAvn 
with reeds and brushAvood, in Avhich he concealed his brother 
Mago with 1000 foot and as many horse. Then, early in the 
morning, he sent his Numidian riders across the river, and 
ordered the whole army to prepare for the cold of the day by 
rubbing themselves Avith oil and making a hearty meal. As soon 

* TTEpl TTeifiepLvuc rponuQ, Polyb. iii. 72, 3. 



Chap. XXXI. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD I. 305 

as Sempronius saw the Numidians cross the water, he sent out 
his cavahy, about 4000 strong, to meet them, and then drew out 
his whole army, amounting to about 36,000 men, to support the 
attack. The Numidians feigned to be beaten and fell back across 
the river. The Romans pursued, but the water was running 
breast-high and was deadly cold ; sleet was falling, which was 
driven in their faces by the east wind ; and when they reached 
the other side, they were half frozen with cold and wet, as well 
as faint with hunger. Their treacherous foes now opened on 
both sides and displayed Hannibal's infantry in battle-order 
with the rest of the cavalry and the elephants on either wing. 
The Roman cavalry, which was also on the wings, was greatly 
outnumbered and soon put to flight ; but the Legions and Allies 
kept their ground bravely under all disadvantages till Mago rose 
from ambush and attacked them in rear. Then the rout became 
general. A body of 10,000 men, however, cut their way through 
the Carthaginian lines to Placentia ; the rest were driven back 
with great slaughter to the Trebia, in which many were drowned, 
but a large number, with the Consul Sempronius himself, recrossed 
in safety. 

The battle of the Trebia ended Hannibal's first campaign. 
The two Consuls, with the relics of their armies, soon after con- 
trived to throw themselves into Placentia and Cremona, and 
afterwards made good their retreat to Ariminum. Sempronius 
had sent home a varnished account of the battle, but the fatal 
truth soon betrayed itself. Two consular armies had been de- 
feated. Cisalpine Gaul was abandoned to the Carthaginians. 

§ 14. B.C. 217. The Senate made great preparations for the 
next campaign. Sicily, Sardinia, and Tarentum were garrisoned 
against the Carthaginian fleets ; the new Consuls were to keep 
Hannibal out of Roman Italy. The Patrician Consul for the year 
was Cn. Servilius ; C. Flaminius was the Plebeian. Flaminius, 
it will be remembered, had held this' high ofiice in 223 b.c, and 
had won a great battle over the Insubrian Gauls, in contempt 
of the orders of the Senate. As Censor, he still dwells in memory 
for having made the Flaminian Way, the great high road from 
Rome through the Sabine country to Ariminum. He had 
-won extraordinary popularity by a sweeping agrarian law to 
divide the coast lands of Umbria and Picenum among a number 
of poor citizens. He had incurred the bitterest enmity of the 
Senate by the warm support he gave to a law of the Tribune 
Claudius, which prohibited senators from engaging in trade. 
This was the man elected by popular favour to oppose Han- 
nibal, brave, as it appears, and generous, but adventurous and 
reckless. Fearing that the Senate might even yet bar his Con- 



306 



EOME AND CARTHAGE. 



Book IV. 



sulship by an appeal to tlie omens, he left the city before the 
Ides of March,* which was at that time the day for the Consuls 
to enter upon office. But no such attempt Avas made. Servi- 
lius was sent to Ariminum in case Hannibal should come down 
by the Flaminian Road; and Flaminius himself took post at 
Arretium to watch the passes of the Apennines. 

§ 15, As the spring approached, Hannibal was anxious to leave 
Cisalpine Gaul. His friends the Insubrians and Boians, how- 
ever much they wished to be relieved from the Roman yoke, did 
not relish entertaining a large army in winter-quarters. They 
were proverbially fickle, and so much did Hannibal mistrust 
them, that, to prevent attempts upon his life, he continually wore 
disguises, and assumed false hair. Leaving the Roman colonies 
of Placentia and Cremona unassailed, he passed the Apennines 
early in the year by an unfrequented route, which brought him 
down into the neighbourhood of Pistoja and Lucca. From this 
point eastward he. had to march through the Yal d'Arno, which 
was at that time an unwholesome swamp.f Here his men and 
horses suffered much ; he himself, being attacked by ophthalmia, 
lost the sight of one eye, and was obliged to have recourse to the 
single elephant which survived the cold of the Alps and a winter 
in the North of Italy. In the neighbourhood of Fsesulaj he 
rested his army, now much increased by Gallic recruits, and re- 
warded his men for their late toils by the plunder of Etruria. 
Flaminius now found that his dexterous enemy had stolen a 
march upon him, and Hannibal, on his part, heard with delight 
the rash and adventurous character of the new Consul. Trust- 
ing to this, he led his army past Arretium, where Flaminius still 

lay encamped, and leav- 
ing Cortona on the 'left, 
passed on towards Pe- 
rusia along the northern, 
side of Lake Trasimene. 
As soon as Flaminius 
found that the Cartha- 
ginian had passed him 
in this disdainful way, 
he immediately marched 
in pursuit. 
§ 16. As the traveller 
comes upon the north-western corner of Lake Trasimene, the 
road ascends a low ridge, now called Monte Gualandro, along 

* Prom the year 223 to 153 B.C., the Consuls entered office on the Ides 
of March ; after the latter date, on the Calends of January, 
f See Introduction, Sect. i. § 18. 



M.CUM&NDRO 




Chap. XXXI. SECOND PUNIC WAR : PERIOD I. 30*7 

wliicli runs tlie boundary line of the Estates of tlie Cliurch. and 
Tuscany. The broad \skc. lies to his right and the road descends 
into a crescent-shaped plain, skirted on the left by hills of some 
height, Avhile between the road and the lake the ground undulates 
considerably. After traversing this open space the road passes 
through the modern village of Passignano, and ascends a hill. 
This was the ground Hannibal chose for awaiting Flaminius. He 
placed his Balearians and light troops in ambush round the hills 
on the left of the narrow plain; he himself,' with his infantry, 
lay in front somewhere near the village of Passignano, while his 
cavalry were ensconced in the uneven ground next the lake, 
ready to close upon the rear of the Romans so soon as they were 
fairly in the plain. "While the Carthaginians were thus disposed, 
Flaminius was encamping for the night on the Tuscan side of 
Monte Gualandro. In the morning a thick mist hung over the 
lake and low lands, so that when the Consul advanced into 
the plain above described he could see nothing. Hannibal 
suffered the Roman van-guard, consisting of 6000 men, to 
advance beyond Passignano before he gave the signal for attack. 
Hearing the cries of battle behind them, they halted anxiously 
on the hill which they were then ascending, but could see 
nothing for the mist. Meantime the Consul, with the main 
army, was assailed on all sides. Charged in front by the Spanish 
and African infantry, on his right and rear by the Gauls and 
cavalry, exposed on his left flank to the ceaseless fire of the 
slingers and javelin-men, Flaminius and his soldiers did all that 
brave men could. They fought valiantly and died fighting. Not 
less than 15,000 Italians fell on that fatal field. Such was the 
scene disclosed to the soldiers of the van-guard when the mist 
cleared off. Hannibal now sent Maharbal to pursue this division, 
which surrendered at discretion. Such of them as were Romans 
or Latins were all thrown into chains ; the Italian Allies were 
dismissed Avithout ransom. Thus did Hannibal's plan for the 
conquest of Rome begin to show itself; he had no hope of sub- 
duing Rome and Italy with a handful of Spanish and African 
veterans. These were to be the core of a great army, to be made 
up of Italians, who (as he hoped) would join his victorious stan- 
dard, as the Gauls had already done. " He had come," he said, 
" into Italy, not to fight against the Italians, but to fight for the 
liberty of the Italians against Rome." 

Such was the battle of Lake Trasimene. So hot was the conflict 
that the combatants did not feel the shock of an earthquake, which 
overthrew many cities of Italy. 

§ 17. Stragglers escaping from the slaughter soon carried the 
evil tidings to Rome, and the Praetor, unable to extenuate the 



308 ROME AND CAETHAGE. Book IV. 

loss, came into tlie Forum, where tlie people were assembled, 
and ascending the Rostra uttered the brief but significant 
words : " We have been defeated in a great battle." Dreadful 
was the terror, so soon as it was known that the Consul was 
dead, his army destroyed. The gates were thronged with 
mothers and children, eagerly questioning the fugitives about 
the fate of their sons, and fathers, and kinsfolk. Every hour 
Hannibal was expected at the gates. Three days passed and he 
came not ; but the news of a fresh disaster came. Cn. Servilius, 
the other Consul, as soon as he heard of Hannibal's presence in 
Etruria, resolved to join his colleague immediately, and sent on 
his horse, 4000 strong, as an earnest of his own arrival. Hannibal, 
informed of their approach, detached Maharbal with a division of 
cavalry and some light-armed troops to intercept them. Half of 
the Romans were cut in pieces, the rest returned in disorder to tell 
the Consul that he was too late. 

Amid the terror which prevailed at Rome the Senate alone 
maintained their calmness. They sate, Avithout adjournment, 
to receive intelligence and deliberate on measures of safety. 
It was resolved (an extraordinary measure) to call upon the 
people to elect a Dictator, the person recommended being Q. 
Fabius Maximus, a man of known discretion and reputed skill ; 
M. Minucius Rufus was also elected as his Master of the Horse.* 
Fabius first called upon the gods to sanction the defence of Rome, 
consulted the Sibylline books, and advised the Senate to decree a 
" sacred spring," according to the ancient custom of the Sabines.f 
And then, collecting the troops that had escaped from the slaugh- 
ter, and filling up their ranks by a new levy, he sent for the army 
of Servilius, and thus Avith four legions and their auxiliary troops 
he prepared to take the field. 

§ 18. Meanwhile the movements of Hannibal had relieved the 
Romans of all immediate fear of seeing him at the gates. It 
seems that he had little hopes of the Etruscans, for he straightway 
left their country and passed northwards by the Flaminian Road. 
He presented himself before the colony of Spoletum, but the 
colonists closed their gates, and he passed upon his way into 
Picenum, collecting plunder from all the Roman settlements as 
he went. Here he lay quiet during the heat of summer. As 
the weather became cooler, he advanced along the coast of the 
Adriatic into Apulia, still plundering as he went. The soldiers 
of the Alps revelled in the abundance of Italy : it is said they 
bathed their horses in wine. But the colonies of Luceria and 

* Commonly, it will be remembered, the Consul nominated the Dictator at 
the order of the Senate, and the Dictator chose his own Master of Horse. 
f See Chapt. xix. § 1. 



Chap. XXXI. oECOND FUNIC WAR: PERIOD I. 309 

Venusia, as of old, refused entrance to the invader, and Hannibal 
passed the Apennines again into Lower Samnium, -where Bene- 
A'entum, now become a colony, defied him like the rest. 

§ 19. By this time Fabius had taken the field. He had made 
np his mind not to risk another battle. His plan for conducting 
the campaign was to move along the heights, so as to keep Han- 
nibal in view, cutting oft" his supplies, intercepting his commu- 
nications, and harassing him in all ways without a general action. 
This was not for Hannibal's interest. He wished to fight another 
great battle and win another great victory (the things were 
synonymous with him), in order that the Samnites and other 
Italians, lately conquered, might venture to rise and join him. It 
w^as no doubt with the purpose of provoking Fabius to a battle, 
or of showing the Italians that the Romans dared not fight him, 
that Hannibal descended from Beneventum down the Vulturnus 
into the rich Falernian Plain.* Here dwelt Roman citizens ; this 
Avas the garden of Italy : would not the Dictator fight to defend 
them and their country from the spoiler ? No : Fabius persisted 
in his cautious policy. He closed all the passes leading from the 
plain, where Hannibal's soldiers were now luxuriating, and waited 
his time patiently, thinking he had caught the invader in a 
trap. But the wily Carthaginian eluded him by a simple stra- 
tagem. Collecting all the oxen he had seized in this favoured 
region, he ordered fagots to be tied to their horns ; and as soon 
as it was night, these fagots being lighted, the animals were 
driven, tossing their heads with fright and waving the flames, up 
the pass which leads from Teanum to AUifee. The troops who 
guarded this pass fled panic-stricken to the heights of Mount 
Callicula, and left free passage for the Carthaginian army. When 
morning broke Hannibal was gone ; he was lying safely encamped 
near Allifse. From thence he pursued his devastating course 
through the Pelignian and Frentanian lands, till he again reached 
Apulia, and there fixed on a strong position near Geronium for his 
winter-quarters. The place was warm and sunny ; corn and pro- 
visions were abundant. 

Fabius, however discomfited by Hannibal's escape from Cam- 
pania, persisted in earning his name of The Lmgerer^\ and foUow- 

* This is the simple statement of Polybius (iii. 91). The well-known story 
in Livy (xxii. 13), that Hannibal told the guides to lead to Gasinum on the 
Latin road, and that they by a mistake took him to Oasilinum in Campania, is 
not noticed by the graver historian. 

■{■ Cunctator. Every one knows Ennius' line, borrowed by Virgil — 
" Unus homo nobis cunctando restituit rem." 
But every one does not know those which follow — 

" Non ponebat enim rumores ante salutem; 
Ergo magisque magisque viri nunc gloria claret." 



310 EOMB AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. 

ing Hannibal as before, took post at Larinum, witbin five or six 
miles of the enemy's camp. 

§ 20. He was now called to Rome, ostensibly to preside over 
certain sacred offices, but really to give an account of bis 
conduct. He found the people mucb discontented. He bad 
been in command of two Consular armies for several montbs, 
and bad done worse tban notbing : be bad allowed tbe lands of 
tbe Roman colonists in Apulia and Samnium, tbe lands of Roman 
citizens in Campania, to be wasted and spoiled before bis eyes. 
These discontents were fomented by Minucius, the Master of tbe 
Horse, who openly dissented from the tactics of his commander, 
and declared that were be General-in-Chief he would try the for- 
tune of another battle. Minucius had been left in command at 
Larinum, and though charged by the Dictator not to risk an 
action, be pushed his camp forward within two miles of Han- 
nibal, and gained some advantages in skirmishing with the Car- 
thaginian foraging-parties. This raised his self-opinion still 
higher, and he sent home highly coloured despatches describing 
his successes. Popular feeling rose to its height, and Terentius 
Varro became its mouthpiece. This man was a petty merchant 
by trade, the son of a butcher ; but he had been Praetor tbe year 
before, and was now candidate for tbe Consulship. His elo- 
quence was great ; and the Senate were obliged to consent to a 
law which gave Minucius an equal command with the Dictator. 
Fabius returned to tbe camp, and quietly gave up half the army 
to bis late subordinate. But he was soon repaid for his modera- 
tion. Hannibal discovered the rash character of tbe new com- 
mander, and drew him out to battle, having previously (according 
to bis wont) concealed a squadron of cavalry in the flank of the 
field of battle. Minucius fell into the snare, and would have 
been defeated as utterly as Flaminius at Lake Trasimene, had not 
the watchful Fabius come up upon his rear, so as to baffle tbe flank 
attack of the cavalry. Hannibal drew off bis men ; and Minucius, 
acknowledging Fabius as bis deliverer, craved his pardon and re- 
sumed his post of Master of the Horse. Tbe whole army returned 
to its old quarters at Larinum. 

§ 21. Thus ended tbe second campaign, not greatly to tbe 
satisfaction of either party. Hannibal bad hoped that ere this 
all Southern Italy would have risen like one man against Rome. 
He had shown himself her master in the field ; wherever her 
soldiers bad dared to meet his, they had been grievously defeated. 
He bad shown all indulgence for Italian prisoners, though he bad 
put to tbe sword all Roman and Latin citizens. But not one 
city bad yet opened its gates to receive him. Tbe Gauls of the 
North were tbe only people who bad joined him since he crossed 



Chap. XXXI. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD I. 311 

the Alps. The Romans, indeed, continued to suffer cruelly, and 
their ordinary revenues were grievously curtailed. It seems to 
have been agreed that a great effort must be made in the 
ensuino- campaign ; an overpowering force was to be brought 
ao-ainst Hannibal ; he was to be crushed, if not by skill, by 
numbers. It was so far encouraging that the Allies had as yet 
remained faithful ; but how long this might last no one could 
tell. Everything concurred in showing that another battle must 
be ventured. 

When the day of electing the Consuls came, out of six candi- 
dates C. Terentius Varro alone obtained a sufficient number of 
votes in any tribe to be returned. It is difficult to ascertain the 
true character of this man. His vigorous eloquence had won the 
confidence of the people : but so much is plain, that he was no 
general, and his election was esteemed a public misfortune by the 
Senate. Varro himself presided at the election of his colleague, 
when the Senate, anxious to provide an able general, induced 
L. ^milius Paullus to offer himself as candidate. Paullus had 
shown his ability as a general in his former Consulship, when 
(219 B.C.) he concluded the Illyrian War in a single campaign. 
But his character for integrity was not spotless, and his manners 
were cold and haughty. Yet so earnestly did the Senate represent 
the necessity of the case, that he was returned without opposi- 
tion. 

These were the Consuls elected to fight Hannibal. Their four 
legions were to be added to the four which Fabius had com- 
manded just before, and which were still in the field. These 
eight legions were raised to more than their usual complement,* 
so that the whole army to be commanded by the Consuls must, 
with the allied force, have amounted to at least 80,000 foot and 
more than 6000 horse. 

§ 22. B.C. 216. The late Consuls (Atilius had succeeded Fla- 
minius), now. serving as Proconsuls, had moved from Larinum 
southwards towards Venusia, and had busied themselves with 
forming magazines at Canusium and Cannse ; and on the plain 
near the latter place the camp was formed. Hannibal, as the 
spring advanced, suffered much from want of corn, for he had 
exhausted his supplies at Geronium ; and having by this time 
received recruits from Cisalpine Gaul, he made a rapid move- 
ment and seized the Roman magazine at Cannse, encamping not 
far from that place, on the left bank of the Aufidus. The Pro- 

* The i;sual complement of a legion at this time was 4000 foot and 200 
horse. At need, this was raised to 5000 foot and 300 horse. It must be 
always remembered that the legions of every Consular army were rather more 
than doubled by the addition of the Itahan Auxiliaries. 



312 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. 

consuls sent home word of this disaster, but received strict orders 
to continue on the defensive till the Consuls arrived to take the 
command. Yet it was some time before this took place, certainly 
not till near the end of July, for the great battle, which is now to 
be described, was fought on the 2nd of August,* and it was fought 
soon after the arrival of the Consuls. 

§ 23. The Consuls found the army about two days' march 
from Hannibal : they immediately moved to his neighbourhood, 
with the intention of offering battle. But when Paullus observed 
the open plain on which Hannibal lay, he was desirous to put ofi 
an engagement, and manoeuvre so as to draw the enemy into 
ground less favourable for the action of cavalry. Varro, however, 
knowing the anxiety of the people to have the matter brought to a 
speedy issue, thought otherwise, and now appeared the evil of both 
Consuls being joined in command of the same army. It Avas a 
repetition of the arrangement which had answered so ill in the 
last years with Fabius and Minucius, with this additional evil, that 
the Consuls, instead of dividing the army between them, took the 
command of the whole on alternate days. A plan more expressly, 
calculated to prevent unity of action could not have been devised. 
But the Consuls were, by the constitution, equal, and Varro was 
far too confident of success to give way to his more experienced 
colleague, ^milius felt bitterly the truth of Fabius' parting in- 
junction : " Remember that you will have to oppose not only Han- 
nibal, but also Varro." 

On the first day of his sole command, Varro moved the whole 
army to the right bank of the Aufidus, between Cannse and the 
sea, so that the river only separated the Roman camp from that 
of the Carthaginians. Next day ^milius fortified a smaller camp 
on the left side of the river, fronting Hannibal, so as to secure 
the passage of the river, but resolutely declined battle. On the 
third day, however, when morning broke, the red standard, which 
was the Roman signal for battle, was seen flying from. Varro's tent. 
The men rejoiced at this ; they were sick of their long inactivity ; 
they were confident in their numbers, and the resolution of their 
favourite Varro was highly applauded. 

§ 24. When ^milius found that a battle must be fought on 
the plain of Cannae, he did his best to support his colleague. 
The whole army was drawn up nearly facing south, with the right 
resting, on the river Aufidus. The Roman cavalry, only 2400 
strong, were on this right flank ; the left was covered in like 
manner by the cavalry of the Allies, ^milius commanded on the 

* It is probable, however, that the Roman Calendar was in error, and that 
the battle was really fought earlier in the year. See Clinton, F. H. iii. 
anno 216. 



Chap. XXXI. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD I. 313 

riglit, Varro on the left ; tlie centre was under the orders of Ser- 
vilius and Atilius, the Proconsuls. It must be especially observed 
that the Legionaries and Allied Infantry were not drawn up, as 
usual, in an open and far-extended line, leaving considerable gaps 
between each manipulus; but the ranks were made very deep 
and closed up almost like the Phalanx. It has been above ob- 
served how serviceable the Phalanx was on plain ground ; and 
probably the Consuls imagined that by this order they might 
offer a niore complete resistance to the formidable cavalry of 
Hannibal, Avhich might be expected to break itself against these 
compact masses of infantry. 

But Hannibal skilfully availed himself of this close array, and 
formed his line accordingly. He had crossed the river early, as 
soon as he saw the Romans in motion. The Spanish and Gallic 
Infantry, which were much inferior in number to the Romans, 
he drew out in an extended line, equal in length to that of the 
enemy, but much less deep and massive. This line advanced in 
a convex form, and at each end he placed his Africans, armed 
with the spoils of former battles, so as to form two flanking 
columns of narrow front but great depth. He himself, with his 
brother Mago, commanded the infantry. On his left flank, next 
the river, were the heavy cavalry of Spain and Gaul, commanded 
by an officer named Hasdrubal, not the brother of the General. 
On the right were the Numidian light horse, under the orders of 
Maharbal. 

Hannibal was in high spirits at the prospect of the battle. 
He had ascended an eminence to gain a better view of the 
Roman lines : and as he stood surveying them, surrounded by 
his officers, one of them, named Gisgo, remarked on " the won- 
derful numbers" of the enemy. "Ah," said Hannibal, "there is 
one thing about them more wonderful than their numbers." 
Gisgo asked what he meant. " Why," replied the General, " in 
all that vast number there is not one man called Gisgo." This 
sally raised a laugh ; the gaiety of the General was an earnest of 
victory. 

§ 25. After some indecisive skirmishing betwen the light troops, 
the real battle began with a conflict on the river-side between the 
Roman cavalry and the horse of Hasdrubal. The latter were 
greatly superior in force, and charged with such effect as to drive 
the Roman horse across the river. 

Meantime the Roman legions, and their allied infantry, ad- 
vanced steadily against Hannibal's centre. The long crescent- 
shaped line above described was quite unable to withstand the 
shock. Nor had the General expected it. On the contrary, he 
had instructed the centre so to fall back, as to form a concave 

14 



314 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book TV. 

figure, and then the whole line to retire slowly, in order to draw the 
Roman masses on between the African flanking columns. This 
order was obeyed with great precision. The Romans pressed 
eagerly on the retiring foe ; but as they advanced, the Africans, 
on either hand, wheeled half-round opposite ways, and attacked 
the Romans on both flanks. The latter, jammed together, and 
assailed on both sides, fell into great disorder, very few of their 
vast army being able to use . their weapons. But the Consul 
JEmilius, who had been wounded by a sling, in an early part of 
the action, and had vainly endeavoured to make the Roman ca- 
valry keep their ground, contrived to restore some sort of order ; 
and it seemed as if the battle was not lost ; when Hasdrubal fell 
upon the rear of the legions, and the rout became complete. 

This able oflficer, after destroying the Roman cavalry, had led 
his heavy horse round to the other wing, where he found the 
Numidians, engaged with the allied cavalry. The latter being- 
borne down by the whole force of Hannibal's cavalry, speedily 
turned their backs ; and Hasdrubal, leaving Maharbal to pursue 
them, made that decisive charge upon the rear of the legions, 
which completed the defeat of the Roman army. 

Then the battle became a mere massacre. The Romans and 
Allies, mingled in a disorderly mass, Avere cut down on all sides. 
The Consul JEmilius fell. Varro, with but seventy horsemen, 
escaped to Venusia. Other parties of fugitives made good their 
retreat to Canusium ; some thousands took refuge in the camps. 
But on the bloody field that evening, there lay dead, at the 
lowest computation, more than 40,000 Roman foot and 3,000 horse. 
The loss in the cavalry involved the death of some of the 
wealthiest and most distinguished men at Rome. With them 
had fallen one Consul, both the Proconsuls, both the Quaestors, 
one-and-twenty out of eight-and-forty Tribunes, and not less than 
eighty Senators. And to add to this, all who had taken refuge in 
the camp surrendered at discretion next day. Hannibal's loss is 
variously stated at from six to eight thousand.* 

§ 26. This then was the battle of Cannae. History does not 
record any defeat more complete, and very few more murderous. 
The great army levied to conquer Hannibal had been annihilated. 

* The slaughter in ancient battles was much greater than in modern. 
At "Waterloo the English loss in killed and wounded was about 15,000, the 
French more than double. The killed are generally about one-fifth of the 
whole. But in ancient battles we never hear of loounded; for in ancient 
battles the conflict was hand to hand, and few were left wounded on the field. 
In these also the lines were generally much closer and deeper, and the 
attack took place along the whole line instead of on single pomts ; so that, 
in case of a defeat, the conquered army was wholly at the mercy of the con- 
queror. 



Chap. XXXI. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD I. 315 

The feverish anxiety with which all men at Rome followed the 
Consuls to the field may be imagined ; those who stayed behind 
in horrible suspense, flocked to the temples, offered vows, con- 
sulted the auguries, raked up omens and prophecies, left no means 
untried to divine the issue of the coming battle. "What must 
have been the dismay, what the amazement, with which they re- 
ceived the first uncertain tidings of defeat ! what the despair, what 
the stupor, which the dreadful reality produced ! 

Among the fugitives who came in with the tidings, was a 
Tribune of the Legions, Cn. Lentulus by name. As he rode off 
the field, he had seen JEmilius the Consul sitting on a stone, 
mortally Avounded. He had dismounted and offered him his 
horse. But the Consul replied, " No, my hours are numbered : 
go thou to Rome, seek out Q. Fabius, and bid him prepare to 
defend the city : tell him that -^milius dies, as he lived, mindful 
of his precepts and example." To Fabius, indeed, all eyes were 
now turned. The Senate instantly met ; and at his motion, each 
Senator was invested with the power of a magistrate : they were 
to prevent all public lamentations ;'* to hinder the people from 
meeting in the Forum, lest they should pass resolutions in favour 
of peace ; to keep the gates well guarded, suffering no one to 
pass in or out Avithout a special order. Every one feared to see 
the army of Hannibal defiling through the Apennines upon the 
plain of Latium. 

§ 27. What the Romans feared the Carthaginians desired. 
" Only send me on," said Maharbal to the General, " with the 
cavalry, and within five days thou shalt sup in the Capitol." 
But Hannibal thought otherwise. His army was small : he was 
totally unprovided with materials for a siege ; Rome was strongly 
fortified. He felt that the mere appearance of his army before 
the walls would rather rouse to action than terrify into submission ; 
and meanwhile the golden time for raising the Samnites and 
other nations of Italy might be lost. Already was he in negocia- 
tion with the leading men at Capua, a city second only to Rome 
in point of size, superior probably in wealth. To this place he 
resolved to march as soon as his men were rested. When their 
Allies had deserted, Rome must agree to his terms, without giving 
him the trouble of a siege. 

He resolved, however, to try the temper of the Romans, and 
accordingly sent ten of the chief men among his prisoners, with 
offers to hold all whom he had taken to ransom. The Senate, on 
the motion of T. Manlius Torquatus, a man who had inherited 

* ov6' eld KXateiv Upta/nog /isyac oi 61 aiuizy 

VEnpovg TTvpKair/c enevrivEov, uxvi/ievoi, Kf/p. — II. H. 42 '7. 



316 EOME AND CARTHAaE. Book IV. 

tlie stern decision of his ancestor, refused to admit the messengers 
to an audience, and ordered all to return, as they had boxmd 
themselves, to Hannibal's camp. One man conceived he had ful- 
filled his promise, because he had gone back on pretence of hav- 
ing forgotten something. But the Senate sent him back with 
his companions. Hannibal was greatly provoked at this almost 
contemptuous reply to his advances. He immediately sold the 
greater part of his prisoners into slavery. This was but the com- 
mon custom of the times. But besides this, he reserved the bravest 
and noblest youths, in order to fight as gladiators for the amuse- 
ment of his army ; and on their refusal, he put them to 
death by torture.* The fact shows, that in moments of passion 
Hannibal was too justly liable to the accusation of barbarous 
cruelty. 

§ 28.. The Senate were now busily occupied in taking all steps 
possible for the safety of Eome. The public horror was in- 
creased by a discovery that two Vestal virgins had been guilty 
of unchastity. One was, as the law directed, buried alive ;. the 
other put herself to death. To avert the wrath of the gods, 
Fabius Pictor was sent to consult the Greek oracle at Delphi ; 
and by the orders of the Sibylline books, a Greek man and 
woman and a Gaulish man and woman were buried alive in the 
Forum, according to the same horrid practice used in the last 
great Gallic War.f But to these superstitious rites were added 
wiser precautions. Fabius, Avith the coolness of age and expe- 
rience, continued to direct their measures. M. Claudius Mar- 
cellus, one of the Praetors, was at Ostia with some troops for the 
service of the fleet, and one legion. He was ordered to bring 
these troops to Rome, while he himself was sent to take the 
command of the fugitives in Apulia. For by this time despatches 
had arrived from Varro, stating that he had been joined by about 
four thousand men at Venusia, and that about the same number 
had assembled at Canusium under App, Claudius, young P. Scipio 
(now about nineteen years of age,) and other Tribunes. It was 
added, that some of the young nobles at Canusium, headed by a 
Metellus, had formed a plan to fly from Italy and offer their ser- 
vices to some foreign prince, despairing of the Republic ; that 
young Scipio had gone instantly to the lodgings of Metellus, and 
standing over him Avith a drawn sword, had made him swear that 
neither would he desert the Republic, nor allow others to do so*, 
that to support the noble conduct of Scipio, Yarro had himself 
transferred his head-quarters to Canusium, and was using all his 
efforts to collect and organise the remains of the defeated army. 

* This is noticed by Dio Cassius, and others. Comp. Polyb. i. 62. 

f See Chapt. xxvii. § IS. 



Chap. XXXI. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD I. 3 1*7 

On tlie arrival of Marcellus at Cannsium, Varro set out to 
Eome to make a personal report of his conduct. With what 
feelings he approached the city may be imagined. But as he 
drew near, the Senate and People Avent out to meet him, and 
publicly thanked him, " for that he had not despaired of the Re- 
public." History presents no nobler spectacle than this. Had 
he been a Carthaginian general, he would have been cruci- 
fied. 

The Dictator ordered levies in Rome and Latium. But the 
immense losses sustained in the three past years had thinned the 
ranks of those who were on the military list. From the action 
on the Ticinus to Cann^, the loss of the Romans and their 
allies could not have been less than 80,000 men. And therefore, 
while the regular levies were slowly proceeding, the Dictator pro- 
posed to buy 8000 slaves from their masters to serve as light 
troops ; and also to enrol debtors, prisoners, and other persons by 
law incapable of serving in the Roman Legions. Marcellus had 
now drawai the eight or ten thousand fugitives from Canusium 
into Campania, and took his post at Casilinum. All commanders 
were instructed to keep to the defensive system of Fabius, and on 
no account to risk another battle. 

§ 29, Meanwhile Hannibal had advanced through Samnium to 
Capua, where he found all prepared to receive him. The Senate, 
who were in the interest of Rome, were dismissed, and the chief 
power committed to a popular leader, named Pacuvius Calavius. 
His first act was to seize on all Romans resident in the city and 
put them to death ; he then made an agreement with Hannibal 
that no Carthaginian officer should exercise authority in Capua, 
but that all the magistrates, as heretofore, should be of their own 
choice ; and demanded that 300 Roman prisoners should be put 
into his hands as hostages for the safety of 300 Capuan knights 
who were serving in the Roman army in Sicily. Hannibal agreed 
to all their demands, and entered this great and wealthy city in 
triumph. One man only, by name Decius Magius, ventured to 
oppose the measures of Pacuvius. Hannibal treated him with 
magnanimous clemency, and contented himself Avith sending him 
oS" to Africa. The rest of the Roman party held their peace, and 
were suffered to remain in Capua. 

§ 30, All Southern Italy had by this time declared in Han- 
nibal's favour. Most of the Apulians, the Hirpinian and Cau- 
dinian Samnites, the Surrentines, most of the Lucanians, the 
Bruttians, and all the Greek cities of the South which were not 
held by Roman garrisons, Avelcomed him as their deliverer. It 
seemed as if he Avere now about to realise his great project of 
raising Italy in insurrection against Rome. 



318 ROME AND OAETHAGB. Book lY. 

He was obliged to send detachments of his army into these 
several districts ; and he employed what small force he still 
retained in attempting to gain possession of the cities in the 
plains of Campania. Nuceria, Acerra, and some others sub- 
mitted, as Capua had done. But Neapolis and Cumse closed 
their gates ; and the Senate of Nola, fearing that the people 
might rise against them, as at Capua, sent for Marcellus to 
Casilinum, This bold and enterprising officer threw himself 
into the city, and by a successful sally repulsed Hannibal from 
the gates. He then seized and executed seventy persons who 
Avere suspected of treason, and entrenched himself strongly in a 
fixed camp near the city. Hannibal being thus repulsed from 
Nola, determined to invest Casilinum, which from its close 
proximity to Capua Avas likely to prove a troublesome neighbour.'* 
The garrison held out obstinately ; but as Marcellus dared not 
risk an action to relieve them, they were at length obliged' to 
yield to the Carthaginian. This was almost the only town in 
Italy which he took by a regular siege. 

§ 31. Hannibal now went into winter quarters at Capua, in 
expectation of receiving succours from home. Soon after the battle 
he had sent off his brother Mago to carry home the tidings of his 
great success. For three years he had pursued a career of victory 
unassisted by the Government : Rome was at his feet : he only 
wanted force enough to crush her. In proof of the greatness of 
the victory of Cannee, Mago poured out on the floor of the 
Senate-house a bushel of gold rings, which had been worn by 
Roman knights Avho had fallen on that fatal field. But the 
jealous Government, headed by a Hanno, the mortal enemy of 
the Barcine family, listened coldly to Mago's words : they asked 
" whether one Roman or Latin citizen had joined Hannibal ? He 
wanted men and money : what more could he want, had he lost 
the battle instead of winning it ?" At length, however, It was 
agreed that Mago should carry reinforcements to Hannibal. But 
the war in Spain soon assumed so threatening an aspect, that 
these succours were diverted to this nearer danger, and Mago was 
ordered to lead them to the support of his brother Hasdrubal in 
that country. All that reached Hannibal was a paltry force of 
4000 Numidian horse, with about forty elephants, and a stinted 
supply of money. 

§ 32. Perhaps the General had not expected much from this 
quarter. No doubt the person to whom he looked for chief sup- 
port was his brother Hasdrubal in Spain. But here, too, he was 

* Casilinum ig the modern Capua. It lies on the river. The site of the 
ancient Capua is about two miles eastward, on an eminence. 



Chap. XXXI. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD L 319 

doomed to disappointment. It will be remembered that P. Scipio, 
the Consul of the year 218, when he returned from Marseilles to 
Pisa, had sent on his brother Cneius with proconsular command 
into Spain, according to the original orders of the Senate. The 
wisdom of this step was fully proved by the event. Cn. Scipio 
landed at Emporium (Ampurias), an old Greek colony. Within 
the year he had driven Hanno across the Ebro, and recovered the 
Roman dominion in Spain, In the next year, the year of Trasi- 
mene, he defeated Hasdrubal by sea, ravaged the coast up to the sub- 
urbs of New Carthage, and made large booty in one of the Balearic 
Isles. P. Scipio joined his brother towards the close of the same 
year ; and by the time that the battle of Cannse had made Hanni- 
bal master of Southen Italy, the two brothers had subdued all 
Northern Spain. 

§ 33. Hannibal's hopes, therefore, of reinforcements for the next 
campaign rested with his new Italian allies. The additional cavalry 
and elephants from Carthage, would still give him the commaiid 
of the open country. But the Romans had learnt wisdom by 
sore experience, and Hannibal could not expect to win great vic- 
tories, such as had marked his first three campaigns. What he 
wanted was a good engineer corps and siege apparatus, to take 
the Latin Colonies and other Free Towns, Avhich even in the dis- 
tricts that had joined him still maintained the cause of Rome. 
Why he did not employ his winter at Capua in organising a force 
of this nature we know not. Whether it was that he thought 
Rome Avas too much weakened to make head against him, or 
whether the Italians were jealous of his authority, and, fearing to 
make him their master, never provided him with any efficient 
force, we know not. The clear narrative of Polybius deserts us 
after the battle of Cannae ; and the history of Livy, beautiful as it 
is, fails in all that precise information which would account for 
Hannibal's apparent remissness during the Avinter. But, whatever 
was the cause, he Avas never able to take tOAvns by force ; and the 
Romans never gave him an opportunity of winning another great 
battle. Consequently all the Latin Colonies and Free Towns 
remained faithful to Rome, and Hannibal was only half master 
even of Southern Italy. 

§ 34. The Romans, for their part, passed the Avinter in the most 
active preparations. The first step necessary was to fill up the 
numerous vacancies caused in the Senate by the late disastrous bat- 
tles. It appeared, on calling over the list, that no feAver than one 
hundred and seA^enty-seven members were missing. Sp. Carvilius 
proposed to recruit the ranks of the Senate by admitting the chief 
citizens of the Latin towns, but this liberal proposal Avas not list- 
ened to ; and it Avas resolved to commit the Avhole business to the 



320 EOMB AND CARTHAGE. Book lY. 

care of a Dictator specially appointed for the purpose. The perso] 
chosen was M. Fabius Buteo, the same who had been sent as chief 
ambassador to Carthage in the year 219 b.c. He was an old man, 
miiversally respected ; and the way he discharged the duty laid 
upon him gave great satisfaction. The bravest and the worthiest 
men were named as the new members. The Consuls elected for 
the ensuing year were T. Sempronius Gracchus and L. Postumius, 
\who was now Prsetor commanding in Cisalpine Gaul. But before 
the Ides of March came the sad intelligence that Postumius, 
with all his army, had been cut off by the Gauls. Fabius Maxi- 
mus himself was elected Consul for the third time, to supply his 
place. Marcellus and Varro were to remain in command as 
Proconsuls. 

Yet to support the vast expenses of the war means were scanty, 
for the revenues of the whole of Southern Italy were cut off. The 
direct taxes were doubled ; and to regulate the collection of this 
impost, three Commissioners* were appointed by a special law. 
The Praetors in Sicily and Sardinia were informed that they must 
raise money to pay their forces within their Provinces ; and, fortu- 
nately for Rome, King Hiero of Syracuse supplied money to her 
treasury even in her most exhausted state. But he died at the 
close of this year,f and it was well known that both these pro- 
vinces were on the eve of revolt. 

§ 35. It must have been a further discouragement to find that 
Hannibal had entered into negociations with Philip King of Mace- 
don. The messengers of the King were taken on their way to 
Capua. For the present, therefore, the danger to be expected from 
this quarter was averted ; but for the future the prospect was 
made more gloomy. Yet nothing availed to break the courage or 
shake the determination of the Senate. 

Few things, probably, could mark the public feeling more than 
a law which Avas passed in the next year at the instance of the 
Tribune Oppius, by which it was forbidden that any woman should 
wear a gay-coloured dress, or have more than half an ounce of 
gold to ornament her person, and that none should approach 
within a mile of any city or town in a car drawn by horses. 
Public need must be very urgent before it is possible to restrain 
private expense by enactments so rigid as those of the Oppian 
Law. 

* Triumviri mensarii (Liv. xxiii. 22). 
f Clinton, F. H. ii. p, 267, Not. (EcL 2). 




Head of Marcellus, 0:1 a Coin of Marcelliuus. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



SECOND PUNIC WAR. SECOND PERIOD (215-211 B.C.). 

§ 1. Fabius and his coadjutors. § 2. Plan of the campaign on both sides. 
§ 3. Gracchus attacks the Capuans : Marcellus saUies from Nola and defeats 
a division of the Carthaguiians. § 4. Fabius sets aside the election of the 
tribes. § 5. Order with respect to the soldiers of Cannae. § 6. Hanno 
fails before Beneventum, Hannibal before Tarentum. § 7. Uncertainty of 
Hannibal's position in Southern Italy. § 8. "War declared against Philip 
of Macedon. § 9. Insurrection in Sardinia. § 10. Death of Hiero, and 
revolt of Syracuse. § 11. Marcellus takes Leontini and begins siege of 
Syracuse. § 12. Extent of Syracuse. § 13. Vigorous defence by Archi- 
medes : general defection of the Sicilian towns. § 14. Capture of Syracuse. 
§ 15. "War still maintained by Epicydes, with the assistance of the African 
Mutin: Ovation of Marcellus. § 16. Lsevinus in Sicily; the war ended by 
the desertion of Mutin. § lY. Hannibal surprises Tarentum, and blockades 
the Citadel. § 18. Capua besieged by Fulvius and Appius. § 19. Raised 
by Hannibal: heavy losses sustained by several Roman commanders. § 20. 
Siege of Capua resumed: the place completely invested. § 21. Hannibal's 
endeavour to reheve it by a march upon Rome. § 22. Surrender and 
punishment of Capua. § 23. Prospects of Hannibal. § 24. The war in 
Spain : defeat and death of the two Scipios. 

§ 1. The first three campaigns of this great war have been nar- 
rated somewhat explicitly, because of the remarkable nature of 
the events. It would not suit the plan of this work to pursue 
the same course with the remainder of the war. ISTor indeed is 
it possible to do so satisfactorily. For here (as we have said) the 
narrative of Polybius fails us, and we are left to the guidance of Livy, 
whose account of military movements is always extremely vague. 
The first period closed with the revolt of Capua. That which 
now claims our attention ends with the recovery of that im- 
portant city by the Eomans. 

14* 



322 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book lY. 

In times of danger and difficulty, the chief power of a Republic 
usually falls into the hands of a single man, who is thought capa- 
ble of saving the state. At Rome, after the battle of Cannse, Q. 
Fabius Maximus became for some years the virtual chief of Senate 
and People. He was great-grandson of that Q. Fabius who won 
so hio'h a name in the Second Samnite War. He was already an 
old man ; more than seventy summers had passed over his head. 
His disposition was so mild or so apathetic that he was known 
by the popular name of Ovicula, or the Lamb. His abilities seem 
not to have been great. His merit was that he had the hardihood 
to avow that the Roman militia were no match for Hannibal's vet- 
erans, and the courage to act on his belief. The cautious system 
which he had practised after the battle of Lake Trasimene had 
excited discontent : but the great defeat of Cannse had most 
unhappily vindicated it. For some years it was rigorously car- 
ried out by commanders more skilful in war than Fabius him- 
self. 

Of these coadjutors the ablest was unquestionably M. Claudius 
Marcellus, who was called the Sword of Rome, as Fabius was 
called the Shield. He also was past the middle age, being at this 
time more than fifty. In his first consulship he had distinguished 
himself by a brilliant victory over the Insubrian Gauls ;* and his 
name now stood very high, for having given the first check to 
Hannibal in his career of victory. Marcellus was a true Roman 
soldier, prompt and bold in action, resolute in adversity, stern 
and unyielding in disposition, blunt and illiterate, yet not with- 
out touches of finer feeling, as was proved at the siege of Syra- 
■ cuse. 

"With him must be mentioned Tib. Sempronius Gracchus, a man 
of humane and kindly temper, and possessing high talents for com- 
mand. Had he not been cut off so early, he might have rivalled 
the fame of Marcellus. 

Q. Fulvius Flaccus, who, like Marcellus, had already been twice 
Consul, disdained not for the two following years to act as Praetor 
of the City. He enjoyed the confidence of Fabius and the Senate, 
and this office gave him, in the continued absence of the Consuls, 
the whole management of the home government. He was not 
less than sixty years of age, discreet and cautious as Fabius himself, 
but more active, energetic, and relentless. 

These and other able men kept Hannibal in check by acting 
on the defensive system of Fabius. When by this means the 
strength of the republic was recruited, Scipio came forward as 
the author of an offensive system. But for the next few years, 

* Above, Chapt. xxx. § 15. 



Chap. XXXII. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD II. 323 

it is only necessary to cast the eye over tlie list of Consuls, to see 
how that office was limited to those whom Fabius, as the Senate's 
Minister for War, approved.* 

§ 2. The plan of war now adopted was of the following kind. 
The two Consuls and a Proconsul were stationed in Campania, 
each with two legions and their auxiliary cohorts. In the present 
year Fabius took post on the Latin road, between Cales and Casili- 
num ; Gracchus occupied the entrenched camp, which had been 
formed by Marcellus near Sinuessa; and Marcellus himself occupied 
a similar camp near Nola. Thus these commanders Avere always 
ready to harass Capua, and were also able to make forays into 
Samniura, Apulia, and Lucania, whenever Hannibal was absent. 
Their connexion with the sea was maintained by the great sea- 
ports of Naples and Cumte. 

Hannibal, on the other hand, formed a strong camp on the ridge 
of Mount Tifata above Capua. But he was often obliged to move 
his forces into the south, leaving the Capuans to defend themselves. 
He sent Hanno son of Bomilcar, with a small division, into Bruttii, 
to reassure his friends in that quarter, and collect recruits. The 
Greek towns of Locri and Croton fell into the hands of this com- 
mander ; but the Romans retained a firm hold of Rhegium, Thurii, 
Metapontum and Tarentum. We have no means of estimating 
the amount of Hannibal's army ; but it may be inferred that it 
was small ; we never find him able to act in force both in Campa- 
nia and in the south. 

§ 3. He soon came in collision with the Consul Gracchus. This 
general was in his camp at Sinuessa, busily employed in training 
the two legions of slaves, who, by the name of Volones or Volun- 
teers, still served under his command. Here he received informa- 
tion from the people of Cumse that the Capuans were coming to 
hold a festival near their city, and he was enabled to fall upon the 
Capuans by night, and slaughter a great number. The news soon 
reached Hannibal, who descended from his camp, only to find 
Gracchus safe behind the walls of Cuma?. 

* Tliose who seem to have been opposed to Fabius are marked with an 
asterisk. The Patrician Consul stands first in each year. 



215 B.C. Q. Fabius Maximus, iii. 

Tib. Sempronius Gracchus. 
214 — Q. Fabius Maximus, ir. 

M. Claudius Marcellus, iii. 
213 — Q. Fabius, son of old Fabius. 

Tib. Sempronius Gracchus, ii. 
212 — App. Claudius Pulcher. 

Q. Fulvius Flaccus, iii. 



211 B.C. *P. Sulpicius Galba. 

Cn. Fulvius Centumalus. 
210 — *M. Valerius Lgevinus. 

M. Claudius Marcellus, iv. 
209 — Q. Fabius Maximus, v. 

Q. Fulvius Flaccus, iv. 
208 — T. Quinctius Crispinus. 

M. Claudius Marcellus, v. 



Therefore, out of sixteen Consulships, Fabius and his son held four, Marcellus 
three, Fulvius tv/o. 



324 ROME AND CAETHAGE. Book IV. 

"While Gracchus was thus engaged at Cumse, Fabius had occupied 
his camp at Sinuessa, and Marcellus was making forays in the Sam- 
nite country. The sufferers sent earnest appeals for defence to 
Hannibal, who now appeared a second time before the walls of 
Nola, being induced by some of the popular party, which in all 
the cities Avas hostile to Rome, to hope that the place might 
be betrayed. But Marcellus made a well-timed sally, in which he 
cut off a large body of the Carthaginian army ; and Hannibal, 
retiring in disappointment, went into winter quarters at Arpi in 
Apulia. 

§ 4. Returning spring (214 b.c.) found Hannibal again in his 
camp on Tifata, and the same Roman commanders opposed to him. 
Fabius was still Consul, with Marcellus for his colleague ; while 
Gracchus had taken the place of the latter as Proconsul. The 
circumstance of the election of these Consuls deserves noting, 
because it shows how completely the people had surrendered their 
right of free choice into the hands of Fabius. The old Consul, on 
returning to hold the Comitia, purposely halted in the Campus 
Martins, and held the election without having entered the city. 
By this means he retained his Imperium, or absolute power. The 
Prerogative Century, which happened to be the Juniors of the An- 
iene tribe, gave their vote for M. ^milius Regillus and T. Otacilius 
Crassus. Otacilius was a nephew of Fabius, and had served as 
Praetor in command of the fleet during the current year, but 
without much credit. Upon this vote being given, the old Consul 
stopped the proceedings and addressed the people. " The Re- 
public," he said, " was struggling for existence ; she was main- 
taining nearly twenty legions in Italy and Sicily and other 
quarters ; and that with revenues diminished and citizens thin- 
ned ; what was the use of all their exertions if she committed 
her armies to untried men ? Therefore," he concluded, " go, 
Lictor, call back the Juniors of the Aniene tribe to give their 
vote anew." All men felt that the old man had not only power, 
but reason on his side. The same Century which had voted 
for other men, now gave their voices for Fabius himself and 
Marcellus. 

§ 5. At the same time the Senate gave an earnest of their stern 
determination by passing a decree that the soldiers of Cannse should 
be sent to act on the defensive in Sicily, without hope of honour 
and glory till the end of the war. And the Censors, in the course 
of this year, summoned before them Metellus and the others who 
had wished to desert the Republic after the defeat of Cannse ; and 
tliey were all deprived of their civic rights. Provision was also 
made for supporting the continued drain upon the Treasury ; but of 
this hereafter. 



Chap. XXXII. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD II. 325 

§ 6. Early in this campaign, Hannibal was enticed from Cam- 
pania by a message sent from certain friends whom he had made 
Avithiu the walls of Tarentmii, and who now offered to betray that 
large and important town to him. Meanwhile he ordered Hanno 
to come up from Bruttii, for the purpose of covering Samnium 
and Campania. Hanno seems to have had hopes of surprising 
the Roman colony of Beneventum. But the Proconsul Gracchus 
threw himself into the town; "And now," he told his Slave- 
soldiers, " now the time was come when they might win their 
liberty. Every one who brought in an enemy's head should 
be made free." In the battle which followed, victory was long 
undetermined ; till Gracchus proclaimed that without victory 
none should be enfranchised ; but if they conquered, none should 
remain a slave. Thus the desperate conflict was determined in 
favour of the Romans, and Hanno, after great loss, made good 
his retreat back into the Bruttian territory. Then Gracchus 
fulfilled the promise made to his Volones, and celebrated their 
enfranchisement by a public festival, in which they all appeared 
wearing white caps in token of liberty. So pleased was their 
commander with the scene, that he had a picture painted to com- 
memorate it on the walls of the Temple of Liberty on the Aventine 
Hill. 

Hannibal, therefore, had the mortification to hear of this reverse, 
without the satisfaction of succeeding in his own expedition. For 
M. Valerius Laevinus, the Roman Praetor stationed at Brundusium, 
being informed of the plot to betray Tarentum, threw a strong- 
garrison into the place under the command of M. Livius, and the 
conspirators did not dare to attempt the fulfilment of their 
promises. 

§ 7. The next year (213 b.c.) was still less fruitful in decisive 
events than the two foregoing. That is, it was favourable to the 
Romans ; for to Hannibal's cause inaction was fatal. And there 
are not wanting indications to show that the Italians who had 
joined him began even now to falter in their resolution, and to 
look with fearful eyes to the little progress he had made since 
the battle of Cannae, and to the tenacity Avith which the Romans 
kept hold of every city. Arpi in Apulia, Hannibal's late winter 
quarters, Avas betrayed to Fabius the younger, who was now 
Consul, assisted by his father as legate.* The 300 Capuan 

* In the same way that the elder Fabius had acted as legate to his 
son in the Third SamniteWar, Chapt. xxiii. § 8. "When old Fabius arrived 
in camp, he rode up to greet his son, who bade him dismount before he 
presumed to appear before tlie Consul. The old man alighted and said, 
" My son, I wished to see if thou wouldst remember that thou wert 
Consul." 



326 ROME AND OAKTHAGE. Book lY. 

knights wlio were in tlie service of Rome at the time when 
their city threw itself into Hannibal's arms, had shown their 
disapprobation of this step by enrolling themselves as citizens of 
Rome ; and about this time one hundred and twelve more of the 
same order came into the Roman camp at Suessula. There 
can be no doubt that the aristocratic party, who had formed 
the municipal government of the communities in connexion with 
Rome, were all against Hannibal. It was this party which main- 
tained so many places in their old allegiance, and were ready 
to restore to Rome such places as had revolted at the first 
opportunity. But if the war in Italy languished, it had broken 
out with great vigour in other quarters. Plannibal's skilful 
negociations had raised up enemies to Rome Avherever his 
envoys could find an opening — in Macedonia, in Sardinia, in 
Sicily. 

§ 8. It has been mentioned that the first letters of Philip 
king of Macedon to Hannibal had been intercepted by the 
Romans; and it was the fear of an attack from this quarter 
that had induced them to station Lsevinus with a fleet at 
Brundusiura. A second embassy was more successful, and an 
alliance was concluded by Hannibal with the king, by which the 
latter bound himself to send an auxiliary force to support the 
Carthaginians in Italy. But Lsevinus and his successors carried 
the war into Philip's own neighbourhood, and took their measures 
with so much skill and energy that the promised succours Avere 
never sent. 

§ 9. In Sardinia an insurrection broke out in the year after 
Cannae. Q. Fulvius, the City-Prsetoi", was ordered to provide for 
its suppression, with leave to appoint any commander whom he 
thought fit. He straightway made choice of T. Manlius Torquatus, 
a man as stern and uncompromising as himself, who in his Consul- 
ship twenty years before had first conquered the island. The old 
general landed with little delay, and in one decisive battle com- 
pletely restored Sardinia to subjection. 

§ 10. Affairs in Sicily gave much more trouble. Indeed in 
the years 211 and 212 this island became the chief seat of the 
war. Hiero, the old king of Syracuse, who for fifty years had 
never faltered in his alliance with Rome, had died soon after the 
fatal day of Cannae. He was succeeded by his grandson Hiero- 
nymus, a youth of fifteen years of age, whose imagination was 
captivated by the brilliant career of Hannibal. The able Cartha- 
ginian soon availed himself of the opportunity Avhich thus pre- 
sented itself to send over agents, into whose hands the young 
prince completely surrendered himself. These were two brothers 
named Hippocrates and Epicydes, Syracusan Greeks by descent, 



Chap. XXXII. SECOND PUNIC WAR : PERIOD II. 327 

but natives of Carthage. The young King, however, after a little 
more than a year's reign, Avas assassinated by a gang of obscure 
conspirators in the main street of Leontini. A republic was 
immediately proclaimed at Syracuse : and shortly after, all the 
remaining members of the royal family were massacred with 
circumstances of singular atrocity. The question now was whether 
the new government should side with Kome or Carthage. The 
brothers, Hippocrates and Epicydes, had at first resolved to return 
to Hannibal ; but they changed their plan, and pretending to fall 
in with the views of the conspirators, were elected Generals-in- 
Chief with several others. Yet the popular feeling seems to have 
inclined towards Rome ; and when App. Claudius the Praetor, who 
had been watching the course of events from Murgantia, a seaport 
about thirty miles north of Syracuse, appeared off the harbour 
with a squadron of 100 ships, it was agreed to conclude a treaty 
with Rome. 

Before long, however, Hippocrates, triie to the interests of his 
master, contrived to leave Syracuse with a body of troops. He re- 
paired to Leontini, and here he was soon joined by his brother 
Epicydes. They then threw off the mask ; and the Leontines de- 
clared themselves independent of Syracuse. 

This was probably late in the year 214 b.c. And about that 
time the Consul Marcellus arrived to take the command of the army 
in Sicily ; for Appius foreseeing that war was at hand, had sent 
despatches to the Senate early in the year. 

§ 11. Marcellus, without delay, laid siege to Leontini, and took 
the town by assault. He did what he could to spare the inhabi- 
tants ; but he was guilty of a piece of most imprudent severity in 
scourging and putting to death as deserters 2000 of the garrison, 
who had once been in the service of Rome. It appears that the 
troops whom Hiero had sent over to the succour of Rome, had 
returned home on the death of that prince, and that these men 
were now in the Syracusan army. When they heard of the cruel 
death of their comrades at Leontini, they lent a ready ear to 
the persuasion of Hippocrates and Epicydes, who had escaped 
from Leontini and now turned the severity of Marcellus to good 
account. These two adventurers were elected sole Generals, and 
Syracuse closed her gates against Rome. Marcellus made some 
fruitless attempts at negociation ; and finally commenced the siege 
of Syracuse. 

§ 12. The city of Syracuse had been greatly enlarged since the 
Athenian expedition.* The island of Ortygia had become the 
citadel, and the suburb along the sea-coast, called Achradina, 

* See the plan in Dr. Smith's " History of Greece," p. 337. 



328 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. 

was now part of the town. The rugged triangular surface called 
Epipolse was well fortified, and its northern approaches, especially, 
were strongly defended by a fort called Hexapylum. 

§ 13. Marcellus at first attempted to take the city by assault. 
He himself attacked the sea-wall of Achradina, while Appius 
attempted to force Hexapylum. The Romans were always famous, 
for their skill in the attack and defence of fortifications, and Mar- 
cellus was well provided with engines of all kinds. But within 
the walls was an engineer more skilful than any they possessed. 
Archimedes, the most celebrated mathematician of ancient times, 
was now 75 years old, but age had not quenched the inventive 
vigour of his mind. He was so devoted to abstruse calcu- 
lations, that sometimes he forgot even to take his meals ; yet 
speculation had not unfitted him for practical pursuits. He had 
been the friend of Hiero and therefore of Rome ; yet his pa- 
triotism burnt with steady flame, and the enemy of his country 
was his enemy. Marvellous are the stories told of the engines 
which he invented to thvi^art the assaults of the Romans, both by 
sea and land. The whole wall Avas armed with ballists and cata- 
pults of immense power, so that the ships dared not come 
within shot. If they ventured to get close under the walls, 
favoured by the darkness of night, they were galled by a fire 
from myriads of loopholes, and nearly crushed by enormous 
stones let drop from the battlements. Then one end of the ship 
was grasped by an " iron hand" let down from a projecting crane, 
which suddenly lifted it up, and as suddenly let it go, so that first 
one end and then the other was plunged in the water. It is said 
also, that burning-glasses of great power were so placed as to set 
on fire ships which approached Avithin their reach. This is pro- 
bably a fiction.* But thus much is certain, that Marcellus at 
length gave up all hopes of taking the city by storm, and com- 
menced to blockade it by regular lines of circumvallation. After 
many months the Romans were as far from taking Syracuse as 
ever. 

Meantime, the Roman cause was daily losing ground in 
Sicily. Even Murgantia, the head-quarters of the fleet, surren- 
dered to Carthage : and Enna, a very strong fortress, was only 
prevented from doing likewise by the prompt cruelty of the 
Commandant, who massacred the whole of its inhabitants. But 

* The burning-glasses are not mentioned in any of the earlier accounts. 
They first appear in Galen and Lucian, authors of the second century after 
Christ. Tlie thing appears to be mathematically possible ; for, by a compli- 
cated arrangement of mirrors, Buffon succeeded in igniting wood at a distance 
of 150 yards. See a summary of the argument in Smith's Diet, of Biography, 
vol. i. p. 270. 



Chap. SXXII. SECOND PUNIC WAR : PERIOD I] 329 

tliis barbarous act, thougli efficacious on tlie ispot, served still 
more to alienate tlie Sicilians from Rome. Agrigentnm sur- 
rendered, and numerous other towns threw off the yoke. 

§ 14. But there was treason Avithin the walls of Syracuse. 
Marcellus at length succeeded in scaling the walls of Hexapylum 
by night, when by reason of a festival they Avere left unguarded. 
He soon gained possession of the whole upper city ; and as he 
gazed from the heights of Epipolae on the fair view beneath him, 
even his rude nature was so affected by the beauty of the scene 
and the greatness of his success, that he burst into a flood of 
tears. 

The southern quarters of the town surrendered to him ; but 
Epicydes, with his army, drew within Achradina, and prepared 
for a desperate defence. Hippocrates, who had gone to obtain 
succours from Carthage, soon returned with a considerable force. 
But Marcellus lay safe within the Upper City, and the army of 
Hippocrates, which encamped on the marshy ground at the 
mouth of the Anapus, Avas soon thinned by disease, as the hot 
weather came on ; and among the dead Avas Hippocrates himself. 
Still the sea was open, and a fleet was daily expected from 
Carthage under the command of Bomilcar. At length the Admiral 
came in view ; but the Roman squadron put out to meet him ; 
and great was the disappointment of Epicydes, Avhen he saw 
the Carthaginian fleet bear away toAvards Italy. He left the city 
secretly and fled to Agrigentum. 

Many of the garrison were deserters from the Romans, who 
could expect little mercy from the severe Marcellus. But the 
rest, when they found themselves deserted by their General, 
slew their officers, and put themselves under Meric, a Spaniard, 
and Sosis, one of the murderers of Hieronymus. These men 
admitted Marcellus by night within the walls of Achradina. Next 
morning, the city was given up to plunder ; and in the massacre 
which followed,'* Archimedes was slain by a soldier, whose 
question he did not ansAver, being absorbed in a geometrical 
problem. For the honour of Marcellus, it should be recorded 
that he was deeply grieved by this mischance, that he gave 
honourable burial to the -corpse of the philosopher, and showed 
great kindness to his relations. The royal treasure was reserved 
for the State ; and the exquisite Avorks of the Grecian chisel 
which adorned the splendid city Avere sent to Rome, to begin 
that system of plunder which enriched Rome at the expense of 
Greece. The people were treated with more mildness than usual ; 

* When the Romans took a town by assault, they commenced an indiscri- 
minate slaughter of every living tiling, dogs included. This was what so 
horrified the Greeks of Sicily. See Polyb. x. 15. 



330 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV, 

and yet wliat was that mildness, that sold tlie mass of the citizens 
into slavery, and drove numbers starving into the fields ! 

§ 15. Thus fell Syracuse, in the summer of 212 b.c, after a 
siege of nearly two years. But though Syracuse was taken, Sicily 
was not conquered. It will be well to anticipate events a little, 
so as to finish our narrative of this war in this place. 

Epicydes, who had escaped to Agrigentum, continued his 
ceaseless activity, and persuaded the Carthaginian Government 
to send out another large force under the command of a general 
named Hanno.* Hannibal also sent over an ofiicer named Mutin 
or Mutton, who henceforth became the soul of the war in Sicily .f 
This man was a half-bred Carthaginian : and the African blood 
in his veins degraded him as much in the eyes of pure Cartha- 
ginians, as the taint of black blood degrades a man in the 
United States. But his abilities as a soldier made Hannibal 
overlook vain distinctions, and Mutin took the command of the 
Numidian horse in the army of Hanno and Epicydes. With 
such skill did he use this formidable cavalry, that Marcellus 
rather lost ground than gained it. But Hanno was jealous of 
the upstart commander, and took occasion to give battle to the 
Romans during his absence. Marcellus accepted the challenge, 
and gained a signal victory. 

This was in the year 211 b.c; and the Proconsul, not wishing 
to tarnish his laurels by the chance of another encounter with 
the dreaded Mutin, went straight home and claimed a triumph. 
But the Senate, finding that Sicily still continued in full revolt, 
refused this demand ; and Marcellus, notwithstanding his suc- 
cesses, was obliged to remain contented, with a splendid Ovation. 

§ 16. In the next year (210 b.c.) Valerius Laevinus took the 
command in Sicily. How long the war might have continued 
it is hard to say, for Mutin still continued to defy the Romans. 
But in an evil hour, the jealousy of Hanno led him to deprive 
his able subordinate of his command, upon which the hot-blooded 
African immediately put himself at the head of his faithful 
Numidians, and threw open the gates of Agrigentum to the 
Roman Consul. Hanno and Epicydes escaped to Carthage, leav- 
ing the army an easy prey to the Roman Legions. The town 
was sacked and plundered, and the inhabitants reduced to 
slavery. And in a short time La3vinus was able to send des- 
patches to the Senate, reporting the entire submission of all 
Sicily. Mutin, as well as Meric and Sosis, Avas made a Roman 

* The Carthaginians must have had a very scarce supply of names. Their 
Hannos are infinite. 

f Livy calls him Mutines ; Polybius, Mvttovoc. 



CflAP. XXXII. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD II. 331 

citizen, and received 500 jugera of State-land. His Numidian 
horse took service with Rome. 

§ 17. It is now time to return to Italy, where the war had 
also resumed a more active form. Early in the year 212 b.c. 
Hannibal once more marched southward to Tarentum, and 
this time with better success than before. He encamped at a 
distance of about three miles, and was constantly visited by 
two young Greeks, who left the city under pretence of hunting, 
and repaired to Hannibal's camp to concert measures for de- 
livering the city into his hands. The place was very strong, 
as the description before given of it will show."* It was by the 
landward side that the conspirators proposed to admit Hannibal ; 
and the time they chose was a night on which it was Avell known 
that M. Livius, the Commandant, would be engaged in a drink- 
ing-bout. The Romans went to bed in drunken security, and 
at daybreak found the city in the hands of the Carthaginians. 
Great part of the garrison was put to the sword ; but Livius, 
with the survivors, made good his escape to the Citadel. Han- 
nibal immediately took measures for besieging it ; and the 
Tarentines, having dragged their ships over-land from the harbour 
into the open sea, were enabled to blockade it both by sea and 
land. It was about this time that Bomilcar arrived at Tarentum, 
with the fleet destined to relieve Syracuse. And Hannibal, 
having thus received considerable reinforcements, was enabled 
to resume active operations against the Romans. 

§ 18. Meanwhile, the Consuls — Appius Claudius and old Q. 
Falvius Flaccus — were preparing to besiege Capua. Gracchus, 
with his Volones, was stationed in Lucania ; one Praetor, Claudius 
Nero, occupied the old camp at Suessula ; another, Cn. Fulvius, 
brother of the Consul, lay in Apulia. The Capuans, fearing they 
should be cut off from all supplies, sent a hasty message to Han- 
nibal at Tarentum ; and he straightway sent orders to provision 
the town, in case it should be besieged before he could come. 
Hanno executed his difficult task with success ; but near Bene- 
ventum, the Consuls fell upon Hanno, and captured all the 
supplies. He was obliged to retire once more into Bruttii, and 
leave Capua to its fate. 

§ 19. The Roman armies now began to close round that 
devoted city. But they were destined to suffer heavy losses 
before they were able to invest it. First, Gracchus, who was 
coming northwards from Lucania to reinforce the Consuls, was 
slain in an ambuscade, and his Volones, so long faithful to their 
favourite leader, dispersed and fled, each man to his own home. 

* See Chapt. xxv. § 7, 



332 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IY. 

Next, Hannibal himself once more appeared in Campania. He 
had already sent Mago with a division of cavalry to encourage 
the Capuans ; and now he entered the city in person without 
the knowledge of the Consuls. He was in high spirits at his 
successes in the South. Not only Tarentum, but also Meta- 
pontum and Thurii, had joined him ; and though Syracuse had 
fallen, the war was still raging fiercely in Sicily. But the Roman 
Commanders were cautious ; and Hannibal, finding he could not 
bring on a battle, was anxious to return to press the siege of 
the citadel of Tarentum, which the Romans had succeeded in 
reinforcing. He went by way of Lucania, and on his route met 
a Roman army, commanded by M. Centenius, an old centurion, 
who had collected an army, and with equal courage and folly 
attempted to bar Hannibal's march. He fell as a valiant soldier 
should fall ; and many thousand brave men paid the penalty of 
trusting to his promises. Hannibal now passed the mountains 
into Apulia ; and here, near Herdonea, he surprised the Praetor, 
Cn. Fulvius. He was like Centenius in rashness, but unlike him 
in being a profligate and a coward. In this action, also, many 
thousand Romans were cut to pieces. Fulvius Avas afterwards 
brought to trial, and obliged to go into exile to save his life. 

§ 20. But notwithstanding these thick-coming losses, the 
Consuls held to their resolution of blockading Capua. No 
sooner was Hannibal's back turned than they again appeared 
before the city ; and before the expiration of the year the lines 
of circumvallation were completed. The armies of Rome always 
contained good workmen ; their common agricultural habits 
accustomed them to the use of the spade ; the great works that 
had for some time been going on, roads and aqueducts, had 
trained a number of men for military work. Yet the rapidity 
with which the vast extent of lines necessary to enclose a great 
city like Capua was completed, cannot but surprise us. These 
lines were secured by a double wall, and care Avas taken to supply 
the besiegers Avith provisions. 

§ 21. The Consuls for the next year (211 b.c.) Avere not allowed 
to supersede Appius and Fulvius : to them was left the glory of 
completing Avell what they had well begun. 

When the Capuans found themselves blockaded, their spirits 
fell, and they sent an urgent message to Hannibal. In an assault 
upon the Roman lines, he Avas beaten off" with loss. And now 
only one hope remained. It was possible that, if he threatened 
Rome itself, the besieging army might be recalled to defend 
the capital. Accordingly, he sent the Capuans notice of his 
purpose by means of a pretended deserter, and the next morning 
the Proconsuls saw his camp on Mount Tifata empty. They 



Chap. XXXII. SECOND FUNIC WAR: PERIOD II. 333 

thought, probably, that be had returned to the South. But 
they soon discovered the truth from country people, who came 
in full of horror to tell that Hannibal's "vvild Numidians and 
monstrous elephants were in full route for Rome, Fulvius 
sent word to the Senate of this fearful visitation ; and the 
opinion of Fabius was unanimously adopted, that one of the 
Proconsuls should be recalled to defend the city with part of his 
army and the City Legions, while the other was left to maintain 
the blockade of Capua. Accordingly, Fulvius marched straight 
to Rome by the Appian road, while Hannibal took the line of the 
Latin road, and then probably crossed the Anio, to avoid the 
thick-studded cities and colonies which might have barred his 
passage. Fulvius, therefore, arrived at Rome before Hannibal 
descended from the North, and encamped within a mile or two 
of the city. The consternation at Rome was in some measure 
quelled by the arrival of Fulvius ; and still more, when Han- 
nibal himself, after riding up to the Colline gate, and then 
skirting the walls, was attacked by the old Proconsul, and 
obliged to fall back upon his camp. It is said, that while he lay 
there, the land occupied by his camp Avas put up to sale and 
bought at a price not at all below its value. Hannibal laughed, 
and bade an auctioneer put up the silversmiths' shops in the 
Forum for sale. But though he put a bold face upon the matter, 
he felt in his heart that he had failed. Rome was able to defend 
herself, and yet had left a sufficient force at Capua to continue 
the blockade. 

The line of his retreat is as uncertain as that of his advance. 
It is known, however, that he conducted his army through Apulia 
into Bruttii, which became henceforth his head-quarters in Italy. 

§ 22. Meantime, Fulvius had returned to the lines round 
Capua, full of exultation. Time wore on, and famine began to 
oppress the wretched inhabitants. How long the desperate 
resistance was prolonged we know not. But at length it appeared 
manifest that surrender must ensue within a few hours ; upon 
which Vibius Virrius, one of the insurgent chiefs, gave a splendid 
banquet to all Senators who would partake of i1^ Twenty-seven 
came, and Avhen the feast was over, a poisoned cup went round, 
in which the guests pledged their host. They went home to 
die; and next morning the city was surrendered. The savage 
old Q. Fulvius determined to wreak a bloody vengeance upon 
the leaders of the insurgents. Five-and-twenty were sent to 
Cales, to Teanum eight-and-twenty, there to await their doom. In 
vain did Appius plead for milder measures. Fulvius heeded no 
intercession. On the morning after the capture, he rode in 
person to Teanum, and saw all the prisoners beheaded. He 



334 EOME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. 

then galloped off to Gales; but wlien the prisoners there were 
being bound, a messenger from Rome brought him letters from 
the Senate. He put them into his bosom, and ordered the 
executions to proceed. When all the heads had fallen, he 
opened the letters, which contained orders to reserve the 
prisoners for the judgment of the Senate. Others of the chief 
men were imprisoned, and all the commoner sort were sold into 
slavery. The city itself was confiscated to Rome. The future 
settlers, for the most part freedmen and slaves, were allowed no 
power of self-government, a Prefect being sent every year from 
Rome, who ruled them with arbitrary sway.* Such was the 
terrible fate of a revolted city in the best times of the Roman 
Republic. 

Other revolted cities of Campania suffered a like fate. But it 
is worth remarking, that when the Consuls returned home, they 
were refused a triumph. No Roman general, it was said, 
deserved a triumph for merely recovering what once belonged 
to the Republic. 

§ 23. The fall of Syracuse and Capua had given a decided 
superiority to the Roman arms in Italy .f Yet, though Hannibal 
was at present so weak that he could not leave the South, nor 
give efi'ectual succour to his Campanian allies, there were many 
causes to give him hopes of retrieving his fortunes. The 
diversion made by sending Mutin to Sicily had proved most 
successful, and it was not till a year later that the folly of Hanno 
betrayed the cause of Carthage in that island. Though the 
Citadel of Tarentum still held out, that great city itself, with 
the rest of Magna Grsecia, except Rhegium, had joined Hannibal; 
and if the Greeks of Sicily should be permanently attached to 
his interests, he might hope at length that Philip of Macedon 
would come over to oppose the common enemy. 

§ 24. But the quarter to which he looked for most effectual 
aid was Spain. For a long time the successes of the Scipios 
had cut off all hope of succour from his brother Hasdrubal. 
These successes continued, notwithstanding the arrival of Mago 
with reinforcejpents from Carthage ; and the Romans at one 
time penetrated into the valley of the Guadalquivir. Many of 
the Celtiberian Tribes enlisted under their banners, eager to 
try a change of masters. Syphax, a Prince of the Numidians, 
formed an alliance with them, and they seemed thus early to 
have formed the design of carrying the war into Africa. In the 

* See above, Chapt. xxvii. § 11. 

■)• So much was attributed to the capture of Syracuse, that the Sibylline 
books were consulted, and the games of ApoUo, afterwards one of the most 
splendid shows of Rome, instituted (Liv. xxv. 12). 



Chap. XXXII. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD 11. 335 

year 212 b.c, the same which witnessed the fall of Syracuse and 
the investment of Capua, the two brothers entertained high hopes 
of a successful campaign. They had wintered in the Celtiberian 
country, and now divided their armies ; Cn. Scipio marching 
against Hasdrubal, the brother of Hannibal, and Publius directing 
his course against a second Carthaginian army, under another 
Hasdrubal and Mago. But the Celtiberians in the army of Cneius 
deserted to their old commander ; and the Roman Proconsul was 
in full retreat when he heard that his brother Publius had been 
surprised and slain with a great portion of his army. The united 
Carthaginian armies now threw themselves on the retreating army 
of Cn. Scipio. He fell fighting bravely, with most of his officers. 
The remains of the Roman armies were collected by a brave knight, 
by name L. Marcius. But though he made good his retreat, it is 
not too much to say that the defeat and death of the two Scipios 
gave back to the Carthaginians all that they had lost in Spain since 
the departure of Hannibal. 

The road now lay open for Hasdrubal to lead a large force to 
the assistance of his brother in Italy, and enable him to resume 
that superiority which he had lately lost. Notwithstanding his 
losses, however, it must not be forgotten that no Roman General 
had dared to meet him in a fair field of battle since Cannsg. 
What might he not hope when largely reinforced ? It belongs to 
the history of the next period to show how irremediably these 
hopes were blighted. 




Coin of an Acilius, with Triuniphal Car. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

SECOND PUNIC WAR : THIRD PERIOD (210 207 B.C.). 

§ 1. Depressed state of Rome. § 2. Renewed Discontent with the Fabian 
system : Election of Consuls for 210 B.C. § 3. M. Valerius Lsevinus. 
§ 4. Immense armies kept on foot. § 5. Financial measures to raise 
money. § 6. Patriotic Loan. § T. Caution of Marcellus. § 8. Leevinus : 
quarrel with the Senate. § 9. Twelve of the Thirty Latin Colonies refuse 
any longer to contribute to the war. § 10. Tarentum recovered from 
Hannibal by Fabius. § 11. Dissatisfaction. § 12. MarceUus killed. 
§ 13. His colleague Crispinus only Uves long enough to name a Dictator : 
apprehensions of Hasdrubal's invasion. § 14. M. Claudius Nero and M. 
Livius Salinator elected Consuls for 20'? b.c., to meet Hasdrubal. § 15. 
March of Hasdrubal: his delay at Placentia. § 16. His despatches to Han- 
nibal intercepted: Nero marches to join Livius in Umbria. § 1*7. Hasdru- 
bal returns : overtaken by the Romans on the Metaurus. § 18. Battle of 
the Metaurus. § 19. Joy at Rome. § 20. Grief of Hannibal: he retires 
into the Bruttian territory. § 21. Triumph of the Consuls : the first since 
the beginning of the War. 

§ 1. The last year's campaign was full of heavy discouragement 
to the Romans. Syracuse, indeed, had been taken ; but Sicily 
still remained in full revolt. Capua had fallen, and Campania was 
again restored to Roman dominion : but Tarentum, all except the 
citadel, was lost. The unmolested march of Hannibal to the walls 
of Rome showed that no part of Italy save the fortified towns and 
entrenched camps could be called their own, so long as the Car- 
thaginian General could lead his wild and lawless mercenaries 
whithersoever he pleased. The loss of Spain had placed before 
them the dreadful possibility that their great enemy might soon 
be reinforced by numbers so large as to make him stronger than 
he had been since he crossed the Alps. 



Chap. XXXIII. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD III. 337 

§ 2. It is evident that mutterings of discontent were beginning 
to arise at tlie manner in Avhich the war had been conducted 
by Fabins and his friends. The bitter lesson of Cannae had 
taught the necessity of caution, and proved that, to act with 
success against Hannibal, they must act on the defensive only. 
But was this system to last for ever? Were they never to 
meet Hannibal in the field ? Thoughts like these, no doubt, 
suggested the experiment of electing a popular Consul for the 
year 210 b.c. When the votes of the Prerogative Century were 
taken, it appeared that the men of their choice were old T. Man,- 
lius Torquatus, the conqueror of Sardinia, and that same T. Ota- 
cilius who had been ousted from his Consulship five years before 
by his uncle Fabius. He was doomed to like treatment a second 
time, though he did not live to hear of it. For Manlius imme- 
diately rose and declined the Consulship for himself: "he was," 
he said, " old and nearly blind : a general should be able to use 
his own eyes. They must choose other and better men." The 
Century, after some hesitation, obeyed, and gave one of their votes 
for Marcellus, as no doubt Fabius and the Senate wished, while 
they bestowed the other upon M. Valerius Lsevinus, who had 
served the State well in the conduct of the war against Philip of 
Macedon. 

§ 3. Valerius probably owed his choice to the fact that he 
was not disposed to submit to Fabius and Fulvius. An oppor- 
tunity soon arose for showing this. As he passed through 
Capua on his way to Rome, Avhere he had not been for several 
years,* the Campanians, smarting under the severe dominion of 
Fulvius, earnestly besought him to let them follow in his train, 
that they might lay their grievances before tbe Senate. The old 
Proconsul growled, but at length allowed them to go with Lsevinus. 
When the Consul arrived at Rome, he was greeted by a deputation 
of Sicilians, who had heard with alarm that the imperious Mar- 
cellus was about to return to their island with Consular authority. 
The affairs of both peoples were brought before the Senate. As 
to the Campanians, the Fathers confirmed in all respects the 
stern edicts of Fulvius ; and not unjustly, for of all cities Capua 
had been most generously treated by Rome : her rebellion had 
been prompted, not by love of liberty (for she was already 
free), but by lust for power. Capua, therefore, now became a 
Prefecture. On the other hand, Marcellus at once gave up his 
Sicilian province to his colleague Laevinus, and agreed to take 
the command in Italy against Hannibal ; and the Senate, though 

* He served as Prsetor and Propr^tor in Southern Italy and Macedonia from 
215 to 211 B.C. 

15 



338 EOME AND CARTHAGE. BOOK lY. 

they ratified tlie previous measures of Marcellus, now recom- 
mended the Sicilians to the special care of Lsevinus. Upon this, 
the Sicilian Envoys, fearing the future anger of Marcellus, fell at 
his feet and entreated him to take them as his clients. For many 
years the Marcelli, his descendants, are found as patrons and pro- 
tectors of the island. 

§ 4. Before the Consuls took the field, they were called upon to 
meet the financial difficulties under v^^hich the state Vfas labouring. 
The force which had been maintained by Rome now for many 
years was very large, and the cost enormous. The number of 
Legions kept on foot since the battle of Cannse had averaged about 
twenty; so that the number of soldiers, legionaries and allied, 
amounted to nearly 200,000 men. While the expenditure was 
thus prodigiously increased, the revenues were greatly diminished : 
and it is a recorded fact, that about this time corn had risen to 
many times its ordinary price.* 

§ 5. Plitherto the difficulties had been met by various expe- 
dients. Early in the war the Senate had simply doubled all 
existing imposts. The commanders in Sardinia and Sicily were 
told that they must subsist their troops from the resources of 
those provinces. The Scipios in Spain had for some time done 
likewise. But in the year after Cannse, these commanders had 
written to say that they were destitute of all things — money, 
food, and clothing. Upon this, the Senate proposed to the con- 
tractors to supply the required stores, and wait for payment till 
the end of the war, it being understood that whatever was 
shipped from Italy was to be paid for, whether the vessel reached 
its destination or not. This ofi"er was readily accepted ; but some 
of the contractors were guilty of a fraud, disgraceful enough at 
any time, but at a time when the State was struggling for very 
existence, utterly detestable. These wretched men put a quantity 
of worthless stores on board crazy vessels, which were purposely 
lost on their passage, and then claimed payment in full, ac- 
cording to their contract. The fraud, however, was discovered, 
and these unworthy citizens were obliged to seek refuge in dishon- 
ourable exile. 

Contracts taken oil such terms were, in fact, a loan to the 
State. The contractors advanced their property for the service 
of the State, and received in exchange a ticket promising them 

* The mecUmnus (=l-i- bushels) was selling for 15 draehmse (about 12 shil- 
lings), Polyb., ix. 44. In Polybius' time corn sold in Cisalpine Gaul for 4 
obols (about G^d.) the medimnus (ii. 15, 1): but this was extraordinarily 
cheap. In Cicero's time a medimnus in Sicily sold for 15 sesterces (about 
2s. 6d), in Verr. iii. 75. 



Chap. XXXIII. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD III. 339 

payment at some future time. Till tlien they lent lier their goods, 
and held her promissory note as a security. 

In the same manner, the owners of the eight thousand slaves 
who were enlisted by Gracchus, gave np their slaves to the State, 
and waited for payment till the Treasury was replenished. 

Both these transactions took place in the year 215 b.c. In the 
following year (214 B.C.) the Senate were obliged to borrow money 
in a more direct form. The fortunes of minors and Avidows, which 
were in the hands of guardians or trustees, were now advanced 
to the State, all expenses incurred on the part of the owners 
being discharged by orders upon the Treasury.* These Treasury 
Bills (as they may be called) Avere probably taken in payment by 
the tradesmen and others, who did not press to have them ex- 
changed for coin till it was convenient for the Treasury to xlo so. 
In these loans it does not appear that the State allowed any in- 
terest upon the goods or money advanced. It is probable that the 
bills or orders upon the Treasury continued in use as money, like 
our Bank-notes. 

In the same year (214 b.c.) an extraordinary measure had been 
taken for manning the fleets. All citizens, except the poor, Avere 
required to furnish one or more seamen, Avith six months' pay and 
their full accoutrements. Senators were called upon to equip 
eight, and the rest in proportion to their rated property. Such 
was the Roman " Ship-money." 

§ 6. The necessities of the present year (210) Avere greater than 
ever. Every resource seemed to be exhausted. Among other 
means, the coinage had been gradually lowered in value. The As, 
Avhich had originally been a pound weight, of copper, had noAV been 
diminished to one-sixth of that weight ; and all payments for the 
Treasury were no doubt made in this depreciated coinage. The 
usual results of such measures had followed. A temporary relief 
Avas gained. But the prices of all articles were raised to meet the 
change, and public credit Avas shaken. 

In these difficulties, the Senate proposed again to levy ship- 
money. But the people Avere in no mood to bear it. They had 
been much impoverished in the last four years ; continued 
increase of taxation had drained their resources ; continued 
service in the army had prevented the proper cultivation of their 
lands ; the marauding march of Hannibal in the year before had 
ruined many. The ferment caused by this neAV impost assumed 
a very formidable appearance. The Senate met to deliberate, 
and the Consul Lsevinus proposed that the great Council should 

* A qusestore perscribebantur (Liv. sxiv. 19). For the use of the term 
perscribere or rescribere, to pay by an order or note of hand, see Terent, 
Fhorm. v. 1, 30, with the notes. 



340 Rome and garth age. book iy. 

set an example of patriotic devotion. " Let us," said he, " contri- 
bute all our treasure for the service of the State. Let us reserve 
— of gold, only our rings, the bullae worn by our sons, and for the 
ornaments of our wives and daughters one ounce apiece, — of sil- 
ver, the trappings of our horses, the family salt-cellar, and a small 
vessel for the service of the gods, — of copper, five thousand pounds 
for the necessities of each family." This proposal was carried by 
acclamation, and the noble example followed emulously by all the 
people. So eager was the throng which pressed to the Treasury, 
that the clerks were unable to make a full register of the names. 
This Patriotic Loan (for it was intended that it should be repaid 
hereafter) saved the State ; and it was even more valuable in the 
spirit which it called forth, than for the actual relief which it 
afforded to the Treasury. 

§ 7. The Consuls now took the field. Marcellus arrived in 
Samnium only to hear that Cn. Fulvius Centumalus, the last 
year's Consul, had shared the fate of his namesake and pre- 
decessor, Cn, Fulvius Flaccus, and had been cut off with the 
greater part of his army at Herdonea."* The unhappy relics of 
this force Avere sent to be added to the remains of the army 
of Cannae, which the relentless Senate still kept in banishment in 
Sicily. Marcellus cautiously advanced to Venusia, and so dogged 
Hannibal's footsteps that he was unable to strike another blow. 
The town of Salapia in Apulia, where lived a lady whom Hanni- 
bal loved too well, and who is said to have more than once de- 
tained him from the field, was betrayed to Marcellus, as Arpi had 
been to Fulvius, and was another example of the altered feeling of 
the Italians. 

§ 8. Lsevinus, as has above been mentioned, was enabled by a 
stroke of good luck to finish the war in Sicily with ease and 
credit ; and he returned to Eome accompanied by the redoubt- 
able Mutin. Before he left Sicily he had sent over his fleet to 
examine the coasts of Africa. The officer despatched on this 
service learnt that the Carthaginian Government were actively 
engaged in collecting troops to be placed under Hasdrubal's com- 
mand for a second invasion of Italy from the IS'orth ; and he 
immediately forwarded this intelligence to the Consul at Rome. 
The Senate were so much alarmed that they ordered Lsevinus 
to return instantly to his province without Avaiting to preside 
at the Comitia. He was to name a Dictator for that purpose ; 
and the person submitted to him for nomination was old Q. 
Fulvius, the Governor of Capua. Lsevinus, however, refused to 

* The names are so similar, and Livy's narrative so vague, that one is led 
to suspect that one event has been made into two. 



Chap. XXXIII. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD III. 341 

name liis personal enemy ; upon -wliicli the ruling party referred 
the matter to the People, who peremptorily ordered the Consul 
to name Fulvius, and no one else. But Lsevinus, to avoid this 
necessity, had already left Rome ; and the Fathers were obliged 
to send for Marcellus to execute their orders. When the old 
Dictator held the Comitia, the Prerogative Tribe gave its vote 
for Fulvius himself and Fabius. An objection was taken 
by two of the Tribunes, who were of the party opposed to 
Fabius, that a presiding magistrate could not allow himself to be 
elected. But this, like many other ordinances, was overruled at 
this critical season by the Senate, and the election proceeded. 
The next year was to see Hannibal confronted with the three 
men reputed to be the ablest commanders in Rome, Fabius and 
Fulvius the Consuls, and Marcellus as Proconsul. It was hoped 
that by their united efforts the enemy might be crushed before the 
arrival of Hasdrubal and his Spaniards. 

§ 9. But the result was not equal to men's expectations. In 
the very outset of this year (209 b.c.) the levies were delayed 
by a circumstance which looked even more threatening than the 
financial difficulties of the previous year. The Latin Colonies, 
now Thirty in number, have been mentioned as the chief stays 
of Roman power in the subject provinces of Italy. They had 
hitherto borne the toils and expenses of the war as unrepiningly 
as Rome herself. What then was the alarm of the Consuls and 
the Senate, when Twelve of the Thirty openly declined to comply 
with the requisition to furnish their contingents for the armies 
of this year. The refusal was due in part no doubt to exhaustion 
and poverty ; but it was partly caused by anger at the fact, that 
most of the defeated soldiers of Centumalus who had lately been 
banished to Sicily were citizens of their towns. The Consuls at 
first endeavoured to reason with them, but in vain ; and when the 
deputies of the other Eighteen Colonies, which comprised all the 
largest and most important places,* declared their stedfast and un- 
altered allegiance, they determined to pass the matter over for the 
present, saying that they would not deign to ask assistance from 
those who would not give it willingly. 

* The Eighteen faithful Colonies were : — In Apulia, Brundusium, Venusia, 
Luceria; in Lucania, Pcestum ; in Samnium, Benevenium, Saticula, ^sernia; 
in Latitim, Fregellce, Signia, Norba ; in Etruria, Cosa ; in Picenum, Hadria, 
Firmum; in Umbria, Spoletwn, Ariminum ; in Gallia Cisalpina, Placentia, 
Cremona ; and, lastly, the island of Pontia. 

The Twelve contumacious Colonies were : — In Campania Cales, Suessa ; in 
Latium, Interamna, Circeii, Setia, Cora, Ardea; in the Marsian country, 
Alha Fuceniia ; in the Sabine, CarseoU ; in Etruria, Sairium, Nepeie ; in 
Umbria, Narnia. 



342 EOMB AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. 

To provide for tlie current expenses, a large treasure of gold, 
wlilcli had been reserved for the emergency of another Gallic war, 
was now first invaded. 

§ 10. Fulvius resumed his station at Capua; Marcellus was to 
engage Hannibal's attention in Apulia, while old Fabius made 
an attempt to recover Tarentum. Marcellus found his enemy 
at Canusium ; and a series of indecisive actions followed, in 
which (although the Roman annalists claim the advantage for 
their hero) it is plain that he must have suffered greatly ; for 
he remained inactive during the rest of the campaign. But 
fortunately for Fabius' attempt upon Tarentum, Hannibal's pre- 
sence was required in Bruttii to defend his allies from a band 
of Free Mercenaries, who, formerly in the service of the Car- 
thaginians in Sicily, had now been engaged by Lsevinus, and 
sent to Rhegium to harass their old masters. The appearance 
of the great General was enough to scare these marauders into 
submission ; but scarcely was this done, when he heard the 
news that Fabius had sate down before Tarentum. Instantly 
he put his army in motion, and marched day and night to 
relieve this important city. But he was too late. By treachery 
he had won the place, and by treachery he lost it. The officer 
in command at Tarentum was a Bruttian. This man had a 
mistress, sister to an Italian serving in the army of Fabius : she 
it was who persuaded him to open the gates to the Consul ; 
and Hannibal, while yet upon his march, heard this disastrous 
news. The old Consul gave up the despised city of the Greeks to 
be plundered by his soldiers, reserving the public treasure for the 
service of the State. But when he was asked whether he would 
have the statues and works of art taken to Rome, after the example 
set by Marcellus at Syracuse, " No," he said, " let the Tarentines 
keep their angry gods." 

Besides the recovery of Tarentum, the Samnites and Lucanians, 
long wavering, again returned to their allegiance, and were restored 
by Falvius to their position as allies without any notice being taken 
of their revolt. 

§ 11. Notwithstanding this, men were dissatisfied with there- 
suit of the campaign. Three consular armies had not sufficed to 
defeat Hannibal ; Marcellus, reputed their best general, seemed 
to have suffered a defeat. But the party who murmured against 
Fabius and his friends were as yet feeble, even among the people. 
Very lately Lsevinus had been compelled to relinquish his oppo- 
sition to that great party ; and when Marcellus appeared before 
the people, and gave a narrative of his services, all men's hearts 
were turned, and not only was he forgiven freely, but was 
even elected Consul for the ensuing year (208 B.C.). His col- 



Chap. XXXIII. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD IIL 343 

league was T. Quinctius Crispinus, "wlio had served under liim in 
Sicily. 

Old Fabius liad just completed liis public life. The capture of 
Tarentum was his greatest exploit, and it was his last ; an honour- 
able close to an honourable career. Marcellus, so long his friend 
and compeer, w^as destined to close not only his military career, 
but his life, a few weeks later. 

§ 12. The defection of the Italians had no doubt weakened 
Hannibal, and the two Consuls determined to throw them- 
selves upon him Avith their conjoint force, in order (if possible) 
to break the charm which seemed to protect the Carthaginian 
from defeat. They found him near Venusia, and every day they 
drew out their forces before his camp and offered him battle. 
But the odds were too great even for Hannibal, and he kept 
close within his intrenchments. It happened that between his 
camp and that of the Consuls there was a hill which Marcellus 
thought it desirable to occupy. Accordingly he rode np to the 
top, accompanied by his colleague and a small detachment of 
cavalry, unconscious that a large body of Numidian horse were 
lurking in the woods below. In a moment the Consuls were 
surrounded. Marcellus was run through by the spear of one 
of these wild horsemen, and fell dead from his horse ; Crispinus 
escaped mortally wounded to his camp. As soon as Hannibal 
heard of this great stroke of good luck, he hastened to the scene 
of conflict, and saw with his own eyes his ablest antagonist lying 
dead before him. His conduct proved the true nobility of his 
nature. He showed no triumph : but simply drew the gold 
ring from the dead tnan's finger, saying : " There lies a good sol- 
dier but a bad general." He then ordered the corpse to receive 
a soldier's burial. Like his father Hamilcar, he warred not with 
the dead, but with the living. 

§ 13. Great was the consternation at Rome when intelligence 
of this untoward event arrived. The Consul Crispinus lived just 
long enough to be carried in a litter to Capua, where he was on 
Roman ground, and could therefore execute the command of the 
Senate to name a Dictator. He named old Manlius Torquatus. 
But no attempt was made to molest Hannibal again this year. 
Torquatus only exercised his office in holding Comitia for the 
election of new Consuls. The occasion was a grave one. Never 
before, since the beginning of the Republic, had she been bereft 
of both her Consuls at one blow. But in order to understand the 
full importance of the choice which the people were now required 
to make, it must be mentioned that Hasdrubal, the brother of 
Hannibal, had already set out upon his march from Spain, and in 
a short time might be expected to arrive in Italy. 



344 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IT. 

§ 13. All notice of the Spanish war since the death of the 
two Scipios has purposely been deferred. Here it will be 
enough to say, that soon after that event, the Senate, well 
understanding the importance of maintaining the war in Spain, 
and anxious (if it might be) to prevent a further invasion of 
Italy, had endeavoured to retrieve their losses in that quarter ; 
and in 211 e.g. young P. Scipio, the hero of the latter part of the 
war, had been appointed to the dangerous command left vacant 
by his father and uncle. In the next chapter notice will be taken 
of his splendid successes during the three years which had passed. 
But these successes had not served to divert Hasdrubal from his 
purpose. This general had collected an army, not large, but com- 
posed of tried soldiers, which he skilfully carried through the heart 
of Spain, and crossed the Pyrenees near Bayonne, entering Gaul 
by the pass which now is threaded by the high road from Paris 
to Madrid. By this dexterous movement he completely eluded 
the vigilance of the Romans, who lost sight of him altogether 
and knew not whither he was gone. But towards the close of 
the present year news came from the friendly people of Marseilles, 
to the efiect that Hasdrubal had arrived in Aquitania, and in- 
tended wintering in Gaul, as the season was too far advanced for 
the safe passage of the Alps. 

Such were the grave circumstances under which Torquatus sum- 
moned the people to elect Consuls for the year 207. 

§ 14. It might have been thought, that the ablest Patrician to 
be found was M. Valerius Lsevinus, who was still in Sicily. Not 
only had he restored the province to order, but had laid in 
large stores of provisions at Catana for the Italian armies, and 
had assisted in other ways in lightening the expenses of the war. 
But the Senate distrusted him : they had not forgotten the 
contumacious way in which he had quitted Rome two years be- 
fore, rather than name a Dictator at their bidding. They there- 
fore turned their eyes on M. Claudius Nero, a man of known 
energy and unflinching resolution, who had served now for many 
years under Fulvius and Marcellus. He had been sent to Spain 
at the first news of the disasters there, and remained in command 
till the appointment of young Scipio. All men agreed that Nero 
should be the Patrician Consul. But who was to be his Ple- 
beian colleague ? Marcellus was dead, and Gracchus was dead ; 
and Fulvius was nearly as old as Fabius. At length it was 
resolved to choose M. Livius Salinator, a man who was also well 
stricken in years, for he had been Consul with ^milius PauUus 
in the year before Hannibal's invasion, and had triumphed with 
him over the Illyrians. But he had been accused of unfair 
division of the spoil taken in that Illyrian war, and had been 



Chap. XXXIII. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD III. 345 

condemned to pay a fine by the vote of all tlie Tribes, save 
one. Indignant at a sentence which he deemed mijust, he had 
"withdrawn to his estate in the country, and had only lately 
reappeared in the Senate at the command of the Censors. But 
when there, he sat in moody silence, till at length he started 
up to speak in defence of his kinsman Livius, the commandant 
of Tarentum, who was accused of having lost the city to Han- 
nibal. On this occasion Fabius' conduct had not been conciliatory. 
For when it was urged in defence of the accused that he had 
mainly assisted in recovering the city, Fabius drily remarked, 
that " he did not wish to condemn Livius : certainly he had 
assisted in recovering Tarentum, for if he had not lost it, it would 
not have been recovered at all." These recollections all rankled 
in the heart of the old Senator ; and he refused the proffered 
Consulship, Here, however, he yielded to the command, rather 
than the entreaty of the Fathers. But still one difficulty re- 
mained. The cross-grained old man was at feud with his col- 
league Nero ; and when friends tried to reconcile them, he replied 
that " he saw no occasion for it : if they remained enemies, they 
would keep a keener watch for each other's faults." At last he 
gave way in this point also, and before they took the field the 
Consuls were in perfect agreement. 

They hastened early in the year to their respective stations, 
Nero to take the command in Southern Italy, against the 
feeble army of Hannibal ; Livius to Ariminum, on the frontier 
of Cisalpine Gaul, to await the arrival of Hasdrubal. 

§ 15. As soon as the season permitted, Hasdrubal advanced 
from his winter-quarters to the passage of the Alps. He avoided 
the coast-road taken by his brother, and passed through the 
country of the Arvernians (who have left their name in French 
Auvergne), and thus came straight to the point where the 
Rhone and Isere meet, so as to take the same route over 
the mountains which had been pursued by his brother eleven 
years before. The time of the year was favourable : in the 
period which had elapsed the people had become better ac- 
quainted with the Carthaginians ; and Hasdrubal achieved his 
passage into Italy with little loss or difficulty. He straightway 
marched through the plains of Cisalpine Gaul to the banks of the 
Po, where the Roman colony of Placentia, one of the eighteen 
lately found faithful, had before defied the arms of Hannibal. 
Hannibal had not wasted time in assailing this .town; but 
Hasdrubal spent some time in besieging it, probably to oblige 
the Gauls, whom he expected to swell the numbers of his army. 
For hitherto they had not given Hannibal much assistance. In 
the eventful year of Cannae thev had cut off" the Consul-elect 

15* 



346 EOME AND CAETHAGB. Book IV. 

Posthumius, and still drank mead out of his skull. But since 
then they had remained quiet ; and Varro, with a single Legion 
at Ariminum, had sufficed to watch them. And now they seem 
to have given Hasdrubal indifferent support, so that the time he 
spent at Placentia must have been nearly thrown away. However 
he obtained some Gallic recruits, and (what was more valuable) a 
considerable body of Ligurians, an active and hardy people, who 
were likely to do him good service. 

§ 16. Before he left his lines at Placentia, he sent off six 
couriers, four Gauls and two Numidians, to inform his brother 
of his intended route. Hannibal, meantime, had been constantly 
on the move. We find him marching from Bruttii into Lu- 
cania, from Lucania into Apulia, and from Apulia again into 
Bruttii, and then once more back into Apulia. The purpose of 
these rapid movements seems to have been to collect recruits 
from such people as still remained faithful to him, in order 
that he might join his brother with as strong a force as possible. 
We cannot but admire the skill with which he eluded Nero, who 
pursued him with a double army of four Legions. Yet it was 
one of these marches that accidentally proved the ruin of his 
cause. The couriers despatched by Hasdrubal from Placentia 
made their way into Apulia, but unfortunately arrived just at 
the time when Hannibal was absent in Bruttii. They at- 
tempted to follow him but missed their way, and fell into the 
hands of the Praetor stationed on the Tarentine frontier. That 
ofiicer immediately sent off the despatches found upon them to 
Nero, who was lying at Canusium. An interpreter was soon pro- 
cured, and the whole plan of the enemy's campaign was now 
revealed to the Consul. Hasdrubal told his brother that he in- 
tended to advance along the Adriatic, by way of Ariminum, and 
proposed that they should join forces in Umbria, in order to march 
upon Rome. Nero's determination was soon taken. Legally, he 
had no power to quit his district in Southern Italy, but in this 
emergency he resolved to set all forms at defiance. He picked 
out 6000 foot and 1000 horse, the flower of his army, and gave 
out that he would march at nightfall on a secret expedition .into 
Lucania. As soon as it was dark, he set out ; but the soldiers 
soon discovered that Lucania was not their destination. . They 
were marching northwards towards Picenum, and they found 
that provisions and beasts of burthen were ready for them all 
along the road, by the Consul's orders. As soon as he was 
well advanced upon his march, he addressed his men, and told 
them that "in a few days they would join their countrymen 
under Livius in his camp at Sena Gallica in Umbria ; that com- 
bined they would intercept Hasdrubal and his invading army; 



Chap. XXXIII. SECOND PUNIC WAR : PERIOD III. 347 

that victory was certain ; that the chief share of the glory would 
be theirs." The men answered such an address as soldiers 
should ; and everywhere, as they passed, the inhabitants came 
out to meet them, pressing upon them clothes, victuals, horses, 
all, and more than all that they could want. In a week's time 
they accomplished a distance of about 250 miles,* and found 
themselves within a short distance of Sena. Nero halted till it 
was dark, that he might enter his colleague's camp unperceived by 
Hasdrubal. 

§ 17. He had previously written to the Senate, informing them 
of his march, and urging them to throw forward a strong force 
to defend the defile through which the Flaminian road passes at 
Narnia, in case the Consuls should be beaten by Hasdrubal. 
Answers had reached him, fully approving his bold design, and 
promising all support. It was, therefore, with full confidence 
that he entered his colleague's camp, and beheld the watch- 
fires of Hasdrubal at not more than half a mile's distance 
in front. His men were warmly greeted by their comrades, and 
received within the camp of Livius, that Hasdrubal might not 
observe the increase of the army. After one day's rest, Nero 
urged immediate action, lest his absence from Apulia might be 
discovered by Hannibal, or his presence in Umbria by Hasdrubal. 
Accordingly, the two legions of Livius, with the two commanded 
by the Praetor Porcius, and Nero's troops, drew out before Has- 
drubal's camp and offered battle. The experienced eye of the 
Carthaginian was struck with an apparent increase of numbers ; 
and his suspicions were confirmed, when he heard the trumpet 
sound twice in the Consul's lines. This convinced him that 
Nero had joined his colleague, and full of anxious fear as to the 
fate of his brother, he determined to refuse battle and retreat 
under cover of night. The Romans returned to their camp ; 
and when the next day broke, they found Hasdrubal's camp 
deserted. Orders were given to pursue. They came up with the 
Carthaginian army on the banks of the Metaurus, about twelve or 
fourteen miles north of their former position. The Metaurus, 
usually a small river, was swollen by rains, so that they could not 
pass it except at certain places ; and their guides had deserted 
them so that they could not find the fords. Hasdrubal, therefore, 
was obliged to give battle with the river in his rear. 

§ 18. On the side of the Romans, Nero commanded on the 
right and Livius on the left, the centre being under the charge 
of the Prsetor Porcius. Hasdrubal with his Spanish veterans, 

* In six days, Livy says (xxviiL 10). The soldiers were much assisted in 
these long marches by the loan of horses, cars, &c. 



348 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book ly. 

stood opposed to Livius, while his Gallic allies confronted Nero; 
and his centre, covered by a corps of elephants, was formed of the 
Ligurians who had taken service in his army. 

The battle began along the whole line at once. In the cen- 
tre, the elephants were wounded, and running furiously about 
trampled down friends and foes alike. On the left, Nero found 
the Gauls strongly posted ; and leaving the greater part of his 
troops to hold them in check, he himself made a flank movement 
with his own troops, and fell upon the right of Hasdrubal's 
division. This bold charge decided the battle. When the right 
wing of the Carthaginian army gave way, the centre followed 
their example ; and Hasdrubal, finding the battle lost, and the 
destruction of his army inevitable from the nature of the ground, 
threw himself into the enemy's ranks ^nd fell fighting. The 
slaughter was great : the Metaurus ran red with blood. 

§ 19. At Rome, as may be well imagined, the news of Nero's 
march had filled all hearts with hope and fear. And now, after 
some ten days of intense anxiety, vague rumours came that a 
battle had been fought and won. Still, men feared to believe 
what they wished ; and the anxiety rose higher and higher, 
till the officer in command at Narnia sent home despatches to 
say that two horsemen had arrived at that place from the 
field of battle with certain news of a great victory. So eager 
were the people, that the Praetor had great difiiculty in prevent- 
ing the despatches from being seized and torn open before they 
had been read in the Senate. And when he brought them out 
from the Senate-house, and read them publicly from the Eostra, 
a burst of exultation broke from every tongue ; and men, women, 
and children thronged to the temples to bless the gods for their 
great deliverance. Thanks were decreed to the Consuls and 
their armies ; three days were appointed for a public thanks- 
giving to the gods. Never Avas public joy and gratitude more 
deserved. The battle of the Metaurus was the salvation of Italy; 
and Horace spoke Avith as much historic truth as poetic fervour 
when he said that " Then, by the death of Hasdrubal, then fell 
all the hope and fortune of Carthage." * 

§ 20. The news was conveyed to Hannibal in a barbarous 
fashion. Nero had returned to his camp at Canusium as 
speedily as possible, and his lieutenants had kept the secret so 
well, that Hannibal had remained ignorant of his absence ; when 
one morning a grisly head was thrown into his camp, and Han- 
nibal knew the features of his brother. Two prisoners sent in, 

* " Occidit occidit 

Spes omnis et fortuna nostri 
Nominis, Hasdrubale, interempto." 



Chap. XXXin, SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD III. 349 

and a large body paraded before the Roman camp, confirmed the 
dismal forebodings of the general, and he said with a heavy heart 
that " the doom of Carthage was spoken." This treatment of 
his brother's remains was an ill return for the generosity shown by 
Hannibal to the corpses of his opponents ; and Nero, by this act, 
forfeited all claim to admiration, except such as must be bestowed 
on a skilful general and a resolute man. 

Hannibal now retreated into Bruttii. The people of this wild 
country, still nearly as wild as it was then, clung to his fallen for- 
tunes with unshaken fidelity. Here he maintained himself for four 
years longer, almost more admirable in adversity than in prosperity. 
Even now no Roman general was able to gain a victory over him ; 
even now every veteran soldier remained faithful to his great 
leader. But he was driven into a corner, and stood like a lion at 
bay, still terrible, but without hope. The war in Italy may now 
be considered at an end. 

§ 21. The victory of the Metaurus was held to be an occasion 
for allowing a triumph to the victorious Generals. No triumphal 
procession had passed down the Sacred Way and ascended to 
the Capitol since ^milius PauUus and Livius Salinator had led up 
the captive Illyrians in the year before Hannibal's invasion. All 
former successes in the war had been but the recoveries of losses, 
all except the capture of Syracuse ; and Marcellus was refused a 
full triumph then, because he left the Sicilian war unfinished. But 
now there was no drawback. The two Consuls met at Praeneste, 
and advanced with the army of Livius and the captives in long 
procession to the Temple of Bellona, in the Campus Martins. Here 
they were received by the Senate and people in festal array. 
Livius appeared in the triumphal car drawn by four white horses, 
attended by his army ; Nero rode on horseback beside him unat- 
tended ; for the battle had been fought in Livius' district. Yet all 
men turned their eyes on the Patrician Consul, and the acclama- 
tions of the crowd showed to whom belonged the true honours of 
the triumph. 

Notwithstanding these honours, Nero (strange to say) was never 
again employed during the war; and it was not till Neros became 
heirs of the Empire of Augustus that poets sang of the debt which 
Rome owed to 'that name.* A star was appearing in the west, 
which soon eclipsed the brightness of Nero's fame. The remain- 
ing period of the war will be little more than a history of the deeds 
of Scipio. 

* " Quid debeas, Roma, Neronibus, 
Testis Metaurum flumen at Hasdrubal 
Devictus," etc. 




L. Cornelius Scipio Africanus. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

SECOND PTTNIC WAR : FOURTH AND LAST PERIOD (206 202 B.C.) 

§ 1. Young P. Seipio elected Proconsul for Spain. § 2. Character of Scipio. 
§ 3. He resolves to surprise New Carthage. § 4 Site of New Carthage : 
its capture. § 5. His humane and politic conduct : he refuses to be king. 
§ 6. Movements of Hasdrubal Barca. § 1. Great battle near the Guadal- 
quivir : Romans masters of all Spain except Gades. § 8. Scipio's designs 
upon Africa. § 9. He crosses over to hold conference with Syphax, king 
of Western Numidia: Treaty. § 10. Revolt of Spanish Cities. § 11. 
Mutiny quelled. § 12. Mago loses Gades. § 13. Scipio returns home : is 
elected Consul, and sent to Sicily with permission to invade Africa. § 14. 
Adventures of Masinissa. § 15. Attempts made at home to thwart Scipio, 
triumphantly repelled. § 16. Restoration of confidence and credit at Rome. 
§ 17. Scipio lands in Africa. § 18. Besieges Utica, and destroys Cartha- 
ginian army by a treacherous artifice. § 19. Defeats a second army : ad- 
vances to Tunis. § 20. Masmissa made King of aU Numidia: death of 
Sophonisba. § 21. The Carthaginians recall Hannibal and Mago, and send 
to treat for Peace at Rome. § 22. Peace refused: death >of Fabius. § 23. 
Hannibal lands at Leptis and advances to Zama : Scipio moves to the same 
point: Conference. §24. Battle of Zama. §25. Zama and "Waterloo. 
§ 26. Conditions of Peace. § 21. Hannibal becomes chief of Carthage. 
§ 28. Triumph of Scipio. 

§ 1. The History of the War in Spain has been left almost un- 
noticed, since the Defeat and Death of the two Scipios in 212 or 
211, It is now time to return to that country; for the issue 



Chap. XXXIY. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD IV. 35 1 

of tlie war between Rome and Hannibal was in reality determined 
on Spanish soil. 

After the disasters of that campaign, the Senate -determined 
to despatch reinforcements without delay ; and the officer ap- 
pointed to take the temporary command was C. Claudius Nero, 
the future hero of the Metaurus. Nero succeeded in restoring 
Roman dominion in the district north of the Ebro ; but the 
Senate resolved to call upon the People to elect a Proconsul for 
Spain at the Great Comitia. This was an unusual course, and 
was due no doubt to the peculiar exigencies of the case. The 
policy of continuing the Spanish War was manifest ; but the risk 
of failure was so great, that the Senate thought fit to throw 
the responsibility upon the People. It was announced therefore 
that Candidates for the Proconsulate were to present themselves 
in the Campus Martins. But when the day came no Candidate 
appeared. Men looked at one another in blank dismay. It 
seemed that none of the soldiers of the Republic dared to under- 
take so great and hazardous an enterprise ; when, to the surprise 
and admiration of all, P. Cornelius Scipio, son and rephew 
of the slain Proconsuls, arose and oflFered himself to the sufl'rages 
of the People. He was barely twenty-six years of age ;* but his 
name and character were well known ; and though he had hither- 
to held no office higher than that of -^dile, he Avas elected by 
acclamation. 

§ 2. Scipio presents in almost all respects a striking contrast to 
the men who had hitherto conducted the affairs of Rome in 
the Second Punic War, They were far advanced in years, cau- 
tious and distrustful ; he was in the prime of youth, enterprising 
and self-confident. They had been trained in all the severity of 
the old Roman discipline ; he is said to have been dissolute in 
early years, and was still thought to affect too much the easy 
laxity of Grecian manners. They were strictly obedient to the 
letter of the law ; he was accustomed from his very youth to put 
himself above the laws and customs of Rome. They always 
acted as the faithful ministers of the Senate ; he very soon 
showed that the Senate must be content to follow his policy, 
rather than guide it. They, however gentle to their country- 
men, were to foreigners harsh, arrogant, and cruel; he treated 
foreigners with a humanity and courteousness that made his 
name better loved in Spain than in Italy. Yet in some re- 
spects he was a true Roman. Notwithstanding the excesses 

* He was seventeen at the skirmish on the Ticinus (Polyb., x. 3). When 
he went to Spain he was in his twenty-seventh year (id., x. 6). He cannot 
therefore have set out till the end of 210 or the beginning of 209. Livy's 
chronology is hardly to be reconciled with the above statements. 



352 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IY. 

charged upon liis youth, lie had long learnt to control his pas- 
sions absolutely, and to submit every desire to his own views 
of duty. Notwithstanding the grace and affability of his manner, 
he, preserved a loftiness of deportment which kept men at a cer- 
tain distance from him. Few shared his intimacy ; but where 
he gave his confidence, as to his friend C. Lselius, that confidence 
was complete and unreserved. One point in his character calls 
for particular attention, — the Religiousness of his life. Never, 
from his first appearance in public, had he been known to un- 
dertake any enterprise without first resorting to the Great Tem- 
ple on the Capitol, and remaining there for hours absorbed 
in devotion. There have been those who have represented 
this conduct as merely assumed to blind and influence the 
people. But such was not the belief of those who knew 
him best ; and to think that Scipio was a mere hypocrite, 
is a monstrous belief. In the time of the Second Punic War, 
religious feelings were strong in the hearts of the people, 
though the popular belief in prodigies and the popular mode 
of deprecating the divine wrath were gross and barbarous. The 
Religion of Scipio might not be consistent ; yet, on the whole, 
it would be unjust to doubt that he, like others of his own 
time, acted in reliance on the support of Higher Powers. In 
this lies the secret of his character. That self-confidence, which 
prompted him to shrink from no responsibility, led him also to 
neglect the laws of his country, when they seemed to oppose 
what he thought just or necessary. Every incident in his 
youth shows this confidence. Not to insist on the doubtful 
story of his saving his father's life, Avhen he was yet a boy, 
we have seen him a Tribune of the Legions at the age of 
twenty, assisting to rally the broken remains of the army of 
Cannae, and barring the Secession of the young Nobles after 
that disastrous day. Three years after, we find him off"ering him- 
self Candidate for the Curule ^dileship ; and, when it was ob- 
jected that he was yet too young for the office, promptly answering, 
" If the People vote for me, that will make me old enough." 
And now, after the death of his Father and Uncle in Spain, we 
see him modestly waiting till it was clear that no experienced 
commander would claim the dangerous honour of succeeding 
them, and then bravely off"ering himself to the acceptance of the 
People. 

§ 3. Scipio arrived in Spain late in the summer of 210, or 
perhaps not till the spring of 209. He landed at Emporise, with 
his friend Lselius and his elder brother Lucius, who accompanied 
him as Legates, and M. Junius Silanus, who was to command as 
Propraetor in the place of Nero. He found that the three 



Ohap. XXXIV. SECOND PUNIC WAR : PERIOD IV. 353 

Generals commanding the Carthaginians in Spain, Hasdrubal 
and Mago, brothers of Hannibal, and Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, 
were at discord with each other. Their forces lay scattered 
over a wide extent of country from Gades to Celtiberia ; and 
there seems to have been no disposition to act on the offensive 
against the Romans. Scipio, taking advantage of these circum- 
stances, determined to strike a blow which, if successful, would 
confirm the enthusiastic feelings of the Roman People towards him, 
and would mark that a General had arisen who would not rest 
content with the timid discretion of the Fabian policy. No less 
a place than New Carthage itself, the Capital of Carthaginian 
Spain, was the object he had in view. He heard that it was de- 
fended by a garrison of 1000 men only, and that none of the 
Carthaginian armies lay near it. By a bold stroke it might be 
possible to surprise it. His purpose was revealed to none save 
Lselius, who sailed in command of the fleet, while Scipio himself 
led his army across the Ebro, and arrived in an incredibly short 
time under the walls of the city.* 

§ 4. New Carthage lay on a hilly peninsula jutting out into a 
fine bay, which forms the harbour. On the land side its walls 
were covered by a marsh or lagoon, which was overflowed by the 
sea, so that the place was only approachable by a narrow neck of 
land between the lagoon and the harbour. On this neck of land 
Scipio took up his position, entrenching himself in rear, but leaving 
the front of his camp open towards the city. No time was to 
be lost ; and next morning he gave orders to assault the walls. 
He addressed his soldiers, and assured them of success ; Neptune, 
he said, had appeared to him in a dream, and promised to 
fight with the Romans. The men advanced gallantly to the 
escalade, confident in their young General. But the walls were 
high and strong ; the garrison made a stout defence : and before 
noon Scipio called off his soldiers. But he did not give up 
his enterprise. In the afternoon, as he was informed, the water 
in the lagoon would be very low, in consequence of. a fall in the 
tide assisted by a strong wind. He therefore picked out_ 500 
men, who were ordered to take a number of scaling-ladders and 
dash through the water so as to mount the walls unobserved, 
while the main body of the army made a feigned attack by 
the neck of land. Thus Neptune would fulfil his promise. 
The device succeeded completely. The garrison had retired to 
their noon-day's sleep, and while they were hurrying to repel the 

* Polybius says in seven days (x. 9). The distance in a straight line is not 
less than 230 miles, so that this march would rival the march of Nero to the 
Metaurus. "We must suppose that the baggage and engines were sent with 
the fleet. 



354 ROME AND OAETHAGB. Book IV. 

feigned attack, tlie 500 got into the town unopposed, and rushing 
to the main entrance threw open the gates. Scipio, with a 
chosen detachment, pushed on to the citadel, into which the 
garrison had fled ; and the Commandant surrendered at discretion. 
All pillaging and slaughter was now stopped ; and at the close of 
the day the young General found himself master of this impor- 
tant city, with a very large treasure and an immense supply of 
stores. 

§ 5. In the city he found a number of Spaniards, mostly women 
and children, kept there as hostages for the fidelity of their 
countrymen. For the Carthaginian rule was no longer beloved 
as in the days of the elder Hasdrubal. Hasdrubal the son of 
Gisgo, especially, had made himself hateful to the people ; and 
the Celtiberians, the most powerful tribe of Central Spain, were 
eager for an opportunity of revolting. Scipio turned these 
dispositions to his own advantage with admirable dexterity. He 
set free all the hostages, as well as all of Spanish blood who had 
been taken prisoners in the city. Among these hostages was 
the wife of Mandonius, brother of Indibilis, a powerful chief 
who had formerly been the friend of Carthage, and the daughters 
of Indibilis himself. He sent them home with as much care 
as if they had been his own kinswomen, although Indibilis and 
Mandonius had been actively engaged against his unfortunate 
father and uncle. Then the soldiers brought him a beautiful 
girl, whom they had reserved as a special gift for their youth- 
ful commander. But Scipio, observing her tears, inquired into 
her condition, and finding that she was the betrothed of Al- 
lucius, a young Celtiberian chief, he sent for the youth, and 
restored his bride unharmed, without ransom or condition. This 
generous conduct was not without its reward. The Spaniards, 
quick in feeling and romantic in disposition, regarded the 
young conqueror as a hero sent to deliver them from the 
yoke of Carthage. His noble bearing, his personal beauty, 
confirmed the favourable impressions caused by his conduct to 
the hostages; and when he advanced next year into Celti- 
beria, he was welcomed by Indibilis and Mandonius at the 
head of their vassals. Soon after, a deputation of Spaniards 
came to him with entreaties to become their King. In him 
they saw revived the dignity of Hamilcar, the afli"ability of the 
elder Hasdrubal; and they hoped that the popular times of those 
favourite rulers might return. But Scipio courteously declined 
the ofi"er, informing them that he was but the General of the 
Roman People, in whose ears the name of king was a byword 
and a reproach. 

§ 6. The Carthaginian generals had been quite unable to make 



Chap. XXXIV. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD IT. 355 

head against the well-earned popularity of the youthful Eoman. 
Hasdrnbal Barca had attempted to retake New Carthage by 
surprise, but in vain ; and the year 208 found him too busily 
engaged in preparing for his Italian expedition to act with energy 
against the Romans. All Spain north of the Baetis (Guadalquivir) 
was relinquished ; but at length Hasdrubal found himself obliged 
to give battle at a place called Btecula, which stands near that 
river. The Eomans won the day; but the Carthaginian Com- 
mander made a skilful retreat, leaving his camp and baggage in 
the hands of the enemy. Hasdrubal now drew back into Lusi- 
tania, leaving his brother Mago and the other Hasdrubal (son of 
Gisgo) to cover the borders of that district, which with the pro- 
vince now called Andalusia were the only parts of Spain left to 
the Carthaginians. Meanwhile he himself crossed the Tagus, 
and marching northwards (as we have seen) by ways unknown 
to ih.e Romans, crossed the Pyrenees into Gaul near the shores 
of the Bay of Biscay. Scipio, informed of his intentions to pass 
into Italy, and expecting him to follow the course of his brother 
Hannibal, spent the remainder of the season upon the Ebro in 
fruitless expectation. In the beginning of 207, he heard that his 
able opponent had eluded him, and was already in the heart of 
Gaul. 

§ 7. In that year the Carthaginians made great efforts to 
retrieve their falling fortunes. An officer named Hanno had 
come over from Africa to replace Hasdrubal Barca; and the 
young Masinissa, son of Gala, a powerful Numidian chief, had 
also taken the field with a large body of his formidable horse- 
men. Scipio himself did not appear in the field till late in the 
season, when he found that his brother Lucius, with his legate 
Silanus, had kept the Carthaginians in check. But the news of 
the Metaurus had reached him, and he burned with eagerness to 
eclipse the glory of Nero. 

Late in this year, therefore, or early in 206, Scipio with his 
whole force prepared to pass the Baetis and bring the enemy 
to action. The Carthaginians, confident in their numbers, 
were equally ready, and their united forces boldly faced the 
enemy. The place of the battle is unknown ; its name is 
variously given as Silpia or Elinga. But the result is certain. 
Scipio's victory was complete : the whole Carthaginian army 
was broken and destroyed ; its scattered remains took re- 
fuge behind the walls of Gades, with Hasdrubal Gisgo and 
Mago ; while the wily Masinissa entered into secret nogotia- 
tions with Silanus, of which we shall have to speak further pre- 
sently. The Senate, therefore, at the commencement of the 
year 206, had to congratulate the People not only on seeing 



356 HOME AND CARTHAGE. BoOKlY. 

Italy almost delivered from the army of Hannibal, but also on 
tbe important fact that all Spain, except the town of Gades, 
was in the hands of the Roman armies. 

§ 8. But Scipio regarded Spain as a mere stepping-stone to 
Africa. Here, and here only, he felt convinced, could the war 
be concluded. Already had Valerius Lsevinus made descents 
upon the African coast, and found the country nearly as de- 
fenceless as in the days of Regulus. But Fabius and the Senate 
were hostile to bold enterprises, and Lsevinus could go no 
further. Scipio determined not to return to Rome till he had 
laid the train for an invasion of Africa; and then, with the 
confidence that marked his whole career, he would offer him- 
self for the Consulship, and force the Senate to allow him his 
own way. 

§ 9. At that time, the country to the west of the Carthaginian 
Territory, from Bona to Gran, was known by the name of J^u- 
raidia; and the Numidians themselves were divided into two 
great Tribes, the Eastern Numidians or Massesylians, and the 
Western or Massy lians. Of the Massesylians, Syphax was King ; 
his capital being Cirta, now well known under the name of Con- 
stantine as a chief place in French Algeria. Gala, father of 
Masinissa, was ruler of the Massylians. We have already seen 
Scipio entering into negotiations with Masinissa. But Masinissa 
had not yet any power of his own. On the other hand, the 
position of the territory of Syphax on the Carthaginian frontier 
necessarily made him the most dangerous enemy of Carthage. 
It was therefore of the greatest importance to secure the friend- 
ship of this powerful but unstable chieftain. Scipio resolved, 
with a boldness almost romantic, to pay a visit to the Numi- 
dian capital ; and, to show his confidence in Syphax, he sailed 
from New Carthage to Africa with two ships only. It hap- 
pened that Hasdrubal Gisgo, who had before this left Spain 
in despair, appeared at the court of Syphax at the self-same time, 
with the self-same purposes. The two rivals were both enter- 
tained by the Numidian ; -but the winning manners and personal 
grace of Scipio prevailed for the present, and Syphax formed an 
alliance with the Romans. 

§ 10. When Scipio returned to Spain, he found that his short 
absence had produced a serious chajige. Three important cities 
in the vale of the Bsetis, Illiturgi, Castulo, and Astapa, had closed 
their gates and declared their independence. Without delay, he 
laid siege to Illiturgi. The town was taken after an obstinate 
defence, and given up to massacre and pillage. This dreadful 
fate of their countrymen produced immediate, but opposite, effects 
on Castulo and Astapa. The men of Castulo, stricken with fear, 



Chap. XXXIV. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD IV. 357 

surrendered at discretion. The men of Astapa collected all 
their property and valuables into a huge funeral pile in the 
market-place, and placed their Avives and daughters under a 
guard, who had orders to slay them and fire the pile as soon 
as the gates should be forced. The rest of the citizens fell 
fighting bravely, and the Romans were left masters of a heap of 
ashes. 

§ 11. Another circumstance showed that the Roman power in 
Spain rested on a very precarious tenure. Scipio fell ill at New 
Carthage, and a report was spread that he was dead. Upon this, 
Indibilis and Mandonius, whom he had believed to be his most 
faithful friends, raised the standard of revolt and advanced into 
Celtiberia. A division of Italian troops, 8000 strong, stationed 
upon the Sucro, broke out into open mutiny, driving away their 
Roman officers, and choosing two Italians as their chiefs. The 
prompt and decisive way in which Scipio quelled this dangerous 
mutiny recalls the conduct of Clive in Bengal on a similar occasion. 
He sent messengers to the mutineers, desiring them to come to 
New Carthage and state their grievances; and as they approached 
the town, he ordered the division of the army in that place to pre- 
pare for marching against the revolted Spaniards. The Italians, 
therefore, met the army leaving New Carthage as they entered 
it, and fondly deemed that the General would now be completely 
at their mercy. But when they appeared next morning before 
Scipio, they found that thirty-five persons, the ringleaders of the 
mutiny, had been arrested during the night ; and the clash of 
arms in the streets leading to the Forum apprised them that the 
army had returned from its pretended march. Scipio now 
showed the mutineers that they were in his power. He re- 
proved them with much severity. Pie ordered the ringleaders 
for execution, and pardoned the rest on their taking the oath of 
allegiance anew. Indibilis and Mandonius, finding that the re- 
port of the General's death was false, hastened to make full sub- 
mission. But no sooner had Scipio left Spain, than these discon- 
tented chiefs again took arms. Indibilis fell in battle ; Mando- 
nius was taken prisoner, and put to death with a number of 
other chieftains. For the present, therefore, Spain was reduced 
to quiet ; but it was more than two centuries before the power 
of Rome was finally established in the Peninsula. 

§ 12. It was now apparent that the Carthaginians had no 
longer any hope of recovering their lost ground in Spain. Has- 
drubal Gisgo had returned to Africa. Masinissa obtained a 
personal interview with Scipio, and renewed those promises of 
friendship which he had made to Silanus after the battle of 
Elinga, and which he afterwards faithfully performed. Mago, 



358 KOME AND CARTHAGE. Book IT. 

the last remaining brother of Hannibal, after a vain attempt to 
surprise New Carthage, returned to Gades, and found that the 
inhabitants shut their gates against him. He enticed the chief 
Magistrates, called Suifets, like the two chief Magistrates of 
Carthage, into a negotiation, and then seizing their persons, he 
crucified them in sight of the town. This brutal and trea- 
cherous act forfeited his last claim on the sympathies of the 
people of Gades. They immediately surrendered to the Romans, 
while Mago sailed off to the Balearic Isles, and there occupied 
himself in preparing for a fresh descent upon the coast of Italy, 
as a last chance of relieving his illustrious brother. 

§ 13. The soil of the Spanish Peninsula was now completely 
cleared of the Carthaginians, and Scipio prepared to return to 
Rome. About three years before he had left his country amid the 
hopes and expectations of all men. He now returned, having more 
than fulfilled those hopes and expectations. His friend Lselius 
had been sent home to announce his first great success ; his 
brother Lucius had lately arrived to prepare the Senate and 
people for the speedy arrival of the hero ; and no one doubted 
that at the approaching elections Scipio would be raised to the 
Consulship by the unanimous voice of the people. 

It was towards the close of the year 206 b.c. that he returned. 
The Senate met him at the Temple of Bellona; but refused 
him a triumph on the ground that he had not held any regular 
magistracy during his absence. He therefore entered the city, 
and ofi"ered himself candidate for the Consulship. Every Tribe 
united in giving him their suffrages, though he was not yet thirty 
years old. But the common rules of election had been neglected 
throughout the war, and no difficulty seems to have been raised 
on the score of age. His colleague was P. Licinius Crassus, 
who was Pontifex Maximus, and therefore unable to leave Italy. 
Whatever foreign enterprise was undertaken must fall to the lot 
of Scipio. He himself was at no pains to conceal his intention 
of carrying the war into Africa; and it was generally understood, 
that if the Senate refused leave, he would bring a special bill for 
the purpose before the people. Fabius, Avith Fulvius and the 
old Senatorial party, vehemently opposed these bold projects. 
.But the time was gone by when they could use the votes of the 
people against an enterprising Consul, as they had done some 
years before against Laevinus.* The confidence of all men in 
Scipio was unbounded ; and, in the end, the Senate was fain to 
compromise the matter by naming Sicily as his province, with 
permission to cross over into Africa, if he deemed it expedient 

* Chapt. xxxiii. § 8. 



Chap. XXXIV. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD IV. 359 

They refused him, however, the additional levies and supplies 
which he required. But the Etruscans and other Italians enthu- 
siastically volunteered to give all he wanted. Scipio led a well- 
appointed fleet into his province, and was able to add con- 
siderably to the veteran soldiers of Cannse and Herdonea, who 
had seen hard service under Marcellus and Laevinus. The year 
passed, however, without any attempt on Africa, except that 
Ltelius went across to reconnoitre, and, after an interview with 
Masinissa, returned laden Avith spoil. 

§ 14. It will be worth while to devote a few lines to the for- 
tunes of this Numidian Prince. His life, since his return from 
Spain, had been one series of romantic enterprises ; and at the 
present time, notwithstanding his adventurous daring, he was 
a wanderer and an outlaw. While he was in Spain, his father 
Gala had died, and his uncle Q^lsalces took possession of the chief- 
tainship of the Massylians. On the death of his uncle, and his 
uncle's son, which followed in rapid succession, the chief poAver 
was seized by an adventurer named Mezetulus, who pretended 
to act as guardian of an infant, the sole remaining scion of the 
family of CEsalces. Masinissa now appeared on the scene. He 
was very popular among the Massylians, and Mezetulus, with his 
young charge, was obliged to fly for safety to the court of 
Syphax at Cirta. This prince, we saw, had formed a treaty with 
Scipio. But Hasdrubal Gisgo soon found means to detach the 
fickle Numidian from his new ally, by off"ering him the hand of 
his beautiful daughter Sophonisba, and urged him to prevent 
Masinissa from recovering the power of his father. The power 
of Masinissa was unequal to that of Syphax. He was defeated 
in every battle he ventured to fight ; but he seemed to lead a 
charmed life. Once he was obliged to lie hid many days in a 
cave, once he escaped with only two horsemen by swimming a 
broad and rapid river ; but he always appeared afresh, from his 
fastnesses in the mountains of the south, at the head of a body 
of his wild cavalry, plundering and alarming the subjects of 
Carthage, as well as those of Syphax. Personal pique was added 
to the desire of recovering the chieftainship of his father ; for 
the beautiful Sophonisba had been his betrothed bride. 

§ 15. In the next year he looked eagerly to see the Romans 
in Africa. But before this took place the enemies of Scipio 
made one more attempt to thwart his African enterprise. He 
had been continued in his command as Proconsul ; and, hearing 
that the citadel of Locri had been taken by Q. Pleminius, who 
commanded as Propraetor in Bruttii, but that Hannibal had come 
to the relief of the place, he left his province without hesita- 
tion, and sailing into the harbour of Locri, obliged the Cartha- 



3 fit) ROME AND CARTHAGE. BOOK IV. 

ginian to retire. Pleminius was no sooner left in command 
tliere than he indulged in gross and brutal outrages, not only 
ao-ainst the people of Locri, but against such Romans as ventured 
to oppose his will. Scipio was appealed to, but declined to 
interfere, desiring the Locrians to lay their complaints before 
the Senate at Rome. These complaints arrived early in the year 
204 B.C., and old Fabius again took occasion to inveigh loudly 
against the presumptuous audacity of his young rival. He ended 
his speech by proposing that he should be deprived of his com-, 
mand. Other complaints were made against Scipio, that by 
going to Locri he had transgressed the limits of his province, 
as he had done before by visiting Syphax in Numidia ; more- 
over, that he spent his time in pursuits unfit for a Roman 
soldier, frequenting the schools and gymnasia of the Greek 
cities, and wearing a Greek dress ; while his men were daily 
becoming corrupted by licentious living and want of discipline. 
The Senate was too well aware of the merits and popularity of 
Scipio to venture to act on these vague accusations without pre- 
vious inquiry ; and it was therefore resolved to send a commission 
into Sicily to examine into the truth of the charges. The result 
Avas highly favourable to the General. It was reported that he 
was quite guiltless of the excesses of Pleminius, who was arrested 
and left to die in prison ; and his troops, instead of being 
neglected or undisciplined, were in the highest order ; the Com- 
missioners had themselves witnessed the evolutions of the 
army and fleet, and could testify to- their effective condition ; 
they had also inspected the stores at Lilybseura, and found arms, 
engines, and supplies of every kind provided for the invasion of 
Africa. It was universally resolved that Scipio should retain his 
command till he should bring the war to a close. 

§ 16. The confidence which the Senate felt in the altered state 
of aff'airs is fully shown by two Decrees passed in the sajne year. 
The first respected the Twelve Latin Colonies, which five years 
before had refused to furnish soldiers. At the time, it had 
been thought prudent to pass over this contumacious conduct.* 
But now they were required to furnish twice their proper con- 
tingent till the end of the war. They murmured, but submitted. 
The other Decree was moved by Lsevinus for the repayment 
of the patriotic loan advanced by the Senators and people during 
his Consulship in the year 210 B.c.f It was apparent, therefore, 
that the battle of the Metaurus, backed by the great successes 
of Scipio in Spain, had raised the Republic above all fear of 
disaffection in her Colonies, or of bankruptcy at home. Other 

* Chapt. xxxiii. § 8. \ Chapt. xsxiii. § 6. 



Chap. XXXIV. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD IV. 361 

signs of confidence appear. A huge stone, supposed to represent 
the Great Mother of the Gods, was brought in state to Eome from 
Pessinus in Sicily. The Sibylline books directed that the care of 
this precious relic should be given to " the best man" at Eome : 
and the Senate adjudged the title to P. Scipio Nasica, son of Cn, 
Scipio, who had died in Spain, and first cousin to the great man 
who was now making the name illustrious.* The Cincian Law, 
also, brought forward by the Tribune M. Cincius Alimentus, at tha 
instance of old Fabius, to prevent advocates from accepting fees 
for their services, shows that business was falling into its routine 
course again. 

§ 17. All obstacles being now removed, Scipio prepared to 
cross over into Africa. His army and fleet were assembled at 
Lilybseum under his own eye. His brother Lucius and his friend 
Lselius still attended him as legates; and his Quaestor was a 
young man destined hereafter to become famous, M. Porcius 
Cato. It was towards the close of 204 e.g. that he set sail. His 
army was not so numerous as it was well-appointed and well- 
disciplined, composed of men who had grown old in service, 
. skilful in sieges, prepared for all dangers ; for the greater part of 
them knew that in the successful termination of the war lay 
their only chance of returning home to end their days in peace. 
As the ships left the harbour at daybreak, Scipio prayed aloud 
to all the gods, that his enterprise might be blessed by their 
favour; that the evils which Carthage had wrought against 
Eome might now be visited upon her own head.f When the 
second morning broke, they were in sight of land ; and Scipio, 
Avhen he heard that they were off the Fair Promontory, said 
that the omen was a good one, and there should be their landing- 
place. 

Masinissa hastened to join him with only 200 of his Numidian 
horse ; but his knowledge of the country, and the ceaseless activity 
which he displayed, would have made him most welcome, even if 
he had come alone. 

§ 18, Scipio immediately laid siege to Utica. The terror felt 
at Carthage, when Lselius had landed the year before, Avas great ; 
and now, when Scipio himself was almost at the gates, terror 
rose to its highest pitch. For a time he was left to carry on 
his operations unmolested. But as the winter advanced, Has- 
drubal Gisgo succeeded in collecting a considerable force, and 

* The Megalesian games (i. e. the games of the [leydXr] firjTTJp) long pre- 
served the memory of this great event. 

f The prayer is given by Livy (xxix. 27) evidently from an old author. 
A number of old Latin forms occur in it, — Bii . . . bene verruncent, i. e. vertant, 
• — bonis audibus auxitis, — copiam faxitis, — eta 

Ifi 



g62 ROME AND CARTHAaB. ,■ Book IV. 

persuaded Syphax, his son-in-law, to lend his aid in relieving 
Utica. Scipio was encamped on a head-land to the eastward 
of this town, on a spot which long retained the name of "the 
Cornelian Camp,"* where (it is said) the ruins of his entrench- 
ments are still to he traced ; and the Carthaginians hoped that 
they might hlockade him here hoth by land and sea. They made 
their arrangements not without skill ; and their fleet, which was 
superior to that of the Eomans, threatened to intercept com- 
munication with Sicily. Scipio remained quiet the whole winter, 
except that he amused Syphax by entering into negotiations for 
peace. The fickle Numidian showed himself not unwilling to 
form a separate treaty, and to desert his father-in-law Hasdrubal. 
But Scipio had no real purpose in these negotiations. They were 
only carried on to mask a design, which, as spring came on, he 
was enabled to put in practice. He observed that Hasdrubal 
occupied one camp, and Syphax another. The huts occupied by 
the Numidians were composed merely of stakes Avattled and 
thatched with reeds ; the quarters of the Carthaginians, though 
somewhat more substantial, consisted solely of timber, without 
any stone or brick. Scipio, in the course of the before-mentioned 
negotiations, contrived to gain an accurate knowledge of the plan 
and disposition of these camps ; and when he thought the time 
for the execution of his design was arrived, he suddenly broke oiF 
the negotiations, and told Syphax that all thoughts of peace must 
be deferred till a later time. 

On the first dark night that followed, he sent Lselius and Ma- 
sinissa against the camp of Syphax, while he himself moved to- 
wards that of Hasdrubal. Masinissa, with his Numidians, ob- 
tained an easy entrance into the lines of his countrymen, and 
straightway set fire to their inflammable habitations. The unfor- 
tunate men rose from their beds or from their wine-cups, and en- 
deavoured to extinguish the flames. But the work had .been too 
well done ; and as they attempted to escape, they found that every 
avenue of the camp was beset by enemies. Fire was behind them, 
death by the sword before ; and though Syphax, with a chosen 
band, escaped, the whole of his army was destroyed. The same 
fate befel Hasdrubal. On the first alarm, he conjectured the truth, 
and with a cowardly haste made off, leaving his men an easy prey 
to Scipio. When morning broke, the Romans pursued the fugi- 
tives ; and it is not too much to say that the whole army on which 
Carthage depended for safety was cut off in this horrible way. 
The recital makes the blood run cold. 

We may congratulate ourselves on the comparative honesty 

* Ccesar, Bell. Civ. ii. 24 and 37. 



Chap. XXXIV. SECOND PUNIC WAR : PERIOD IV. 363 

of modern warfare. If in sieges and bombardments dreadful calami- 
ties are inflicted and suft'ered, yet no general would form a plan for 
burning and destroying an army b}^ pretended negotiations for 
peace, carried on in cold blood for weeks before. Yet the historian 
Polybius relates this event as a matter quite in the ordinary course 
of warfare, without any remark on the duplicity by which it was 
made successful. Neither the act itself, nor the means by which 
it was carried into execution, was ever thought to cast any slur on 
the fair fame of Scipio. 

§ 19. The Carthaginian Senate were ready to give up matters 
as lost. But at this juncture 10,000 Celtiberians landed in Africa 
and oifered their services to Syphax ; and this prince was over- 
persuaded by the entreaties of Sophonisba to renew the struggle. 
Hasdrubal also exerted himself greatly to collect a new army ; and 
in the course of thirty days the two allied generals appeared on 
the Great Plains, which lie about 70 or 80 miles to the south-west 
of Utica and Carthage. Scipio, leaving his fleet and a division of 
his army to continue the blockade of Utica, advanced to give 
them battle without delay. The Celtiberians made a stout resist- 
ance ; but being deserted by the rest of the army, they were en- 
tirely cut to pieces. Hasdrubal fled to Carthage, Syphax to his 
own kingdom ; so that the whole country was left to the mercy 
of the Romans. Scipio advanced towards Carthage, receiving the 
submission of the difl'erent towns by which he passed. Encamping 
at Tunis, within sight of the Capital, he awaited the submission of 
the Government. 

§ 20. Meanwhile Lselius and Masinissa, with the Italian and 
Numidian cavalry, pursued Syphax to Cirta. The unlucky king 
made a faint show of resistance ; but he was defeated, and his 
capital surrendered at discretion. Masinissa now received his 
reward, and was proclaimed king of all Numidia. When he 
entered Cirta, he was met by Sophonisba, formerly his betrothed, 
and now the wife of his rival. Her charms melted his heart; 
and fearing lest Scipio might claim her as his captive, to lead her 
in triumph by the side of Syphax, he took the bold step of mar- 
rying her at once. This much provoked Scipio, who sent for the 
young chief and rebuked him sternly for venturing to take pos- 
session of a Roman captive. Masinissa sighed, and felt that he 
was unable to protect his unhappy bride. But, resolved that at 
least she should have the option of escaping from the degrada- 
tion of a Roman triumph, he sent her a cup of poison, telling 
her that herein lay her only possible deliverance. She took the 
potion, saying that she accepted the nuptial gift, and drained 
it to the dregs. When the tragical fate of Sophonisba reached 
the ears of Scipio, he feared that he had dealt too harshly with 



364 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. 

his Numidian ally. He sent for liim, and gently reproving him 
for his haste, he publicly presented him with the most honourable 
testimonies to his bravery and fidelity which a Roman General 
could bestow. In the delights of satisfied ambition and the ac- 
quisition of a powerful sovereignty, Masinissa soon forgot the sor- 
rows of Sophonisba. 

§ 21. While Scipio remained at Tunis, the Carthaginian fleet 
made an attack on the Roman ships in the harbour of Utica, and 
gained some advantage. Intelligence also reached the Govern- 
ment that Mago, on landing in Italy, had been welcomed by the 
Ligurians and a portion of the Gauls, and had lately taken posi- 
tion on the Po with a considerable force. Here, however, he was. 
encountered by a Roman army and defeated after a severe strug- 
gle. Mago, himself wounded, took refuge among the Ligurians, 
who still remained faithful to his cause. 

The Carthaginian Government then had the choice of three 
courses : either to make terms with Rome at once ; or to continue the 
war by recalling Hannibal and Mago from Italy to Africa ; or to re- 
call the two brothers on the one hand, while on the other they en- 
tered into negotiations for a peace. The last was the course adopted. 
Ambassadors were dispatched to Rome to treat for peace, while 
orders were sent to Hannibal and Mago to return with such forces 
as they could bring. 

Mago obeyed the orders immediately, but never reached Africa. 
He died of his wound upon the passage, and his few ships were 
taken by the Romans. Hannibal also with bitter feelings prepared 
to obey. For sixteen years had the indomitable man maintained 
himself on foreign ground ; and even now the remains of his 
veteran army clung to him with desperate fidelity. He felt that, 
so far as he was concerned, he had been more than successful ; if 
he had failed, it had been the fault of that ungrateful country, 
which had left him long years unsupported, and now was recall- 
ing him to defend her from the enemy. What Scipio was now to 
Carthage, that might Hannibal have been to Rome. Still he saw 
that no advantage could be gained by remaining longer in Italy : 
he therefore bade farewell to the foreign shores, so long his own, 
and set sail for that native land which had not seen him for nearly 
forty years. 

§ 22. Great was the joy at Rome when the news came that 
their dire* enemy had been at length compelled to leave the 
shores of Italy. A public thanksgiving was decreed ; sacrifices 
off"ered to all the Great Gods of Rome ; and the Roman 
Games, which had been vowed by Marcellus in his last Consul- 

* This epithet has been appropriated to Hannibal by Horace. 



CH.iP. XXXiy. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD IV. 365 

sliip, were now at leiigtli performed. It was at this moment of 
triumph that the Carthaginian Ambassadors arrived. The 
Senate received them (inauspicious omen !) in the Temple of 
Bellona. Lsevinus moved that they should be at once dismissed, 
and that orders should be sent to Scipio to push on the war with 
vigour. After some debate, his proposition was adopted. The 
close of the year 203 therefore rendered it certain that the war 
must be decided by a trial of strength between the two great 
Generals, who, each triumphant in his own career, had never yet 
encountered each other in arms. About the same time old 
Fabius breathed his last, as if unwilling to be a spectator of the 
final glory of Scipio. He died in extreme old age. He has the 
merit of first successfully opposing Hannibal ; but his somewhat 
narrow mind, and the jealous obstinacy which often accompanies 
increasing years, prevented him from seeing that there is a time 
for all things; that his own policy was excellent for retrieving 
the fortunes of the Republic, but that the inactivity of the Car- 
thaginian Government had ruined Hannibal and left the field 
open for the bolder measures of Scipio. 

§ 23. Hannibal had landed at Leptis, to the south of Carthage, 
with his veterans ; and thence marching northwards, took up 
his position on the plain of Zama, within five days' march of 
Carthage. Scipio, early in the year (202 b.c), advanced from 
Tunis to meet him ; and finding that the Carthaginian General 
had sent spies to ascertain his strength, he ordered them to be 
led through his camp, and sent back with a full account of all 
that they had seen. Hannibal felt that he had to deal with a 
superior force, led by a General only second in ability to himself. 
His own veterans were few in number ; the remainder of his 
army were raw levies or allies little to be trusted ; the Numidian 
horse, which had been his main arm in Italy, were now arrayed 
against him under the enterprising Masinissa. He therefore 
proposed a personal conference, in the faint hope that he might 
efiiect a treaty between himself and Scipio, which he would 
then compel the Carthaginian Government to accept. Perhaps 
if Scipio had felt himself free to act independently, he might 
have listened to the blandishments of his great opponent; but 
he was the General of the Republic, and he knew the feeling 
at Rome too well to venture to act in opposition to it. The 
Generals therefore parted from their conference, with feelings of 
mutual esteem, and prepared to decide the fate of the civilised 
world by battle. 

§ 24. Next day at sunrise both armies drew out. Hannibal 
marshalled his army in three lines : first his Gallic and Ligurian 
auxiliaries, with Balearians and other light troops ; in the 



S6b KOME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. 

second line, the veterans of Italy with fresh African levies ; 
-and in the rear, the few Bruttian and Italian allies who had 
followed his fortunes. Both wings were flanked by cavalry, as 
usual ; and the whole line of battle was covered by a formidable 
array of eighty elephants. To oppose him, Scipio also formed 
three lines according to the common practice of the Romans; 
Lselius with the Italian cavalry was posted on the left, Masi- 
nissa with his Numidians on the right. The Roman army was 
superior in all respects, except in elephants ; and to make the 
attack of these monsters powerless, Scipio drew up the maniples 
of his infantry not (as was usual) chequer-wise, but one imme- 
diately behind the other, so as to leave open lanes between the 
maniples from front to rear. 

The battle began by an attack of the elephants on the Roman 
light troops, who skirmished in front of the regular lines. 
These were overborne by the weight of the huge beasts, and fled 
down the lanes which have been described ; but when the 
elephants came within the ranks, the men on each side pricked 
them with their javelins, so that some of them rushed clear 
through the spaces without turning to the right or left ; others 
wheeled about and carried confusion into the Carthaginian 
ranks. Meanwhile both Masinissa and Lselius had routed the 
cavalry opposed to them, and the battle grew hot in the centre. 
The auxiliaries in Hannibal's front line were soon driven in 
upon the veterans, who, however, levelled their spears and com- 
pelled them to advance again. Both parties kept bringing up 
their fresh men, withdrawing their wounded to the rear ; and 
the battle continued with great fury, till Lselius and Masinissa, 
returning with the cavalry from the pursuit, charged the Car- 
thaginians in rear, and decided the fate of the day. The Romans 
lost about 5000 on the field ; the Carthaginians not less than 
20,000, besides a vast number who were taken prisoners. 

§ 25. Thus was Hannibal defeated, but not subdued. The 
Battle of Zama has often been compared to that of Waterloo. 
In both, the greatest Generals of the respective parties met 
for the first time; and in both, the more famous chief, fighting 
with an army hastily drawn together in defence of his country, 
■was defeated. But in other points they were unlike. Waterloo 
left Fi'ance helpless ; and her ruler had no hope but in with- 
drawing from her shores. After the Battle of Zama Hannibal 
could still have off'ered a long resistance ; and if he thought it 
best to make peace immediately, it was that he might reform 
the government, and prepare for new struggles at a future 
time. 
- § 26. As Scipio was returning to Tunis, he met envoys from 



Cmvp. XXXIY. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD lY. 367 

Cartilage. He sent them back with the following conditions of 
peace : " The Carthaginians were to be left independent within 
their own territories; they were to give up all prisoners and 
deserters, all their ships of war except ten triremes, and all their 
elephants ; they Avere not to make war in Africa or out of Africa 
without the consent of Rome ; they Avere to acknoAvledge Masi- 
nissa as King of Numidia; they were to pay 10,000 talents of 
silver towards the expenses of the Avar by instalments in the 
course of the next fifty years."* When the Senate of Carthage 
met to debate on these conditions, Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, rose 
to advise the continuation of Avar ! Avhen Hannibal, angry at the 
folly ^of the man, pulled him back to his seat. A loud cry Avas 
raised; upon Avhich the General rose and said that "for six- 
and-thirty years he had been fighting the battles of his country 
in foreign lands, and if in the camp he had forgotten the manners 
of the city, he prayed forgiveness." He then Avent on to show 
that all resistance, however prolonged, must eventually prove 
fruitless; and in the end the Senate agreed to accept the pro- 
posed conditions. Upon this Scipio granted an armistice of 
three months, while he sent his brother Lucius, with two other 
envoys, to Rome to learn the pleasure of the Senate and People. 
The Senate gave audience to Scipio's envoys in the Temple of 
Bellona, and welcomed them into the city Avith the highest 
honours. At the same time ambassadors arrived from the old 
Government party at Carthage, who had always opposed the 
Hannibalic War, and noAV hoped to obtain more favourable 
terms : but they Avere dismissed by the Senate Avith contumely ; 
and the final decision respecting Peace was left to the People. 
All the Tribes voted that Scipio should be empoAvered to con- 
firm the conditions Avhich he had already off"ered ; and the Fe- 
cials were ordered to pass over into Africa, carrying with them 
Italian flints to strike fire withal, and Italian herbs on Avhich to 
ofi"er sacrifice, that the Treaty might be made in unexceptionable 
form. Accordingly, in the very beginning of the year 201 b.c, 
seventeen years after Hannibal had set out from Ncav Carthage 
on his march into Italy, peace was concluded, and Scipio set sail 
for Rome. 

§ 27. When the old merchant rulers of Carthage saw their 
ships of war delivered up to the Romans, and most of them 
burned before their eyes ; when they were obliged to open their 
money-bag-s to pay the first instalment of the enormous fine 
entailed upon them by that Avar, Avhich had been begun in defi- 
ance of their secret wishes, and Avhich had ended thus disas- 

* 10,000 talents weight of silver would be worth at the present day more 
than 2,O00,O00Z. sterhng. 



368 ^ ROME AND CARTHAGE. BookIv. 

trously in consequence of their own jealousy and supineness, Han- 
nibal made no secret of his contempt, and laughed openly at their 
rueful and dejected aspect. Nothing marks more clearly the cha- 
racter of this son of the camp. Kind and genial as he was, 
frank and generous to his soldiers, he respected not the real suf- 
ferings of these civilians, and took no trouble to disguise his sen- 
timents. He felt conscious that his power in the city was greater 
now, than when he was conqueror of Italy. We shall see here- 
after that for the next few years he became the absolute ruler of 
Carthage, and the reformer of her narrow institutions. If he had 
been permitted, he might have raised her to an eminence greater 
than that from which she had fallen. But such was not the will 
of Providence. 

§ 28. The Triumph of Scipio was the most splendid that had 
ever yet ascended the Sacred Hill. The enormous quantity of 
silver which he brought with him not only enriched his soldiers, 
but relieved the State from the pressure of the debts which dur- 
ing the war she had been obliged to contract. King Syphax fol- 
lowed his car, with many other illustrious prisoners ; and, Avhat 
was still more grateful to his feelings, many Romans who had long 
languished in captivity attended their deliverer wearing caps of 
Liberty. Among these was a Senator, by name Q. Terentius 
Culeo, who ever after considered himself the Freedman of Scipio. 
The General himself, the universal gaze of men, was saluted by 
the name of the country he had conquered. No one before him 
had obtained the honour of this titular surname : but the name 
of Scipio has come down to our own times indissolubly linked with 
that of Africanus. 




Lictors. 



CHAPTEE XXXV. 



GOVERNMENT AND CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES UP TO THE CLOSE OP 
THE HANNIBALIC WAR. 

§ 1. The present a fit place for a Review of the Constitution, &c. § 2. The 
severance between Patricians and Plebeians fast disappearing. § 3. Decay 
of the Comitia Curiata. § 4. Regulations of age, &c., for admission to 
offices of State. § 5. Duties attached to each. § 6. These offices pro- 
fessedly open to all, but now practically hmited to the wealthy. § 1 
Constant change in executive officers, even in those of the army. § 8. Re- 
publican nature of the system : its disadvantages, how counteracted in 
practice. § 9. Stability given to the system by the Senate: the Senate 
composed of persons qualified (1) by tenure of office, (2) by property, (3) 
by age. § 10. Power of the Senate, (1) in legislation, (2) in administra- 
tion of home and foreign affairs, (3) in jurisdiction. §11. The Comitia 
Centuriata, as re-modelled. § 12. The Comitia Tributa: its gradual rise to 
power, coordinate with the encroachments of the Tribunate. § 13. Anomaly 
of two independent legislative bodies : how were collisions prevented ? 
§ 14. The Tribe Assembly far from a pure democracy. § 15. AU laws in 
both Assemblies required the previous sanction of the Senate. § 16- 
Causes that prevented collisions between the Senate and the Tribes. § 17. 
Predominance of the Tribe Assembly over the Centuriate, in legislation. 
§ 18. Their elective powers. § 19. Their rights of jurisdiction. § 20. 
Present supremacy of the Senate accounted for. 

§ 1. Now that we have seen Rome first become Mistress of Italy, 
and then, after a life and death struggle, rise superior to Car- 

16* 



370 KOME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. 

thage ; now that we sliall have to follow her in her conquest of all 
the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, so that this sea be- 
came what in modern phrase may be called a Roman lake, we 
naturally inquire what was the form of government under which 
she made these great achievements, what the treatment of the 
subject foreigners, what the condition of the people, their manners 
and mode of life, their progress in art and literature. To some of 
these questions an answer 'has already been given by the history 
itself; to others no answer can be given, so scanty are the records 
of the time. 

§ 2. About the time of the Punic Wars the framework of the 
Eoman Constitution was complete. This Constitution was not 
created by a single legislator, like that of Sparta, nor due to the 
convulsive efforts of an oppressed commonalty, like that of modern 
France, but had grown up, like that of England, by slow degrees 
out of the struggle between the Patrician Lords who had origi- 
nally engrossed all political power, and the Plebeians or Commons, 
who had by successive steps obtained a share in all the privileges 
of the Patricians. The only trace remaining of ancient severance 
was the regulation, by which, of the two Consuls and the two 
Censors, one must be a Patrician, one a Plebeian. At the time of 
which we speak this regulation was in full force. Indeed the 
Consuls who in the Hannibalic War rendered the most signal 
services were Patrician; but, by a law of nature, the Patrician 
Families being (like the Scottish Peerages) limited in number, 
gradually died off", while new Plebeian Families were rising to 
opulence and honour. In a few years even the partition of offices 
fell into disuse,* and no political distinction remained, save that 
persons of Patrician pedigree were excluded from the Tribunate 
of the Plebs, as Scottish Peers from sitting in the House of Com- 
mons. 

§ 3. In correspondence with the advance of Plebeian and the 
decay of Patrician Families, a silent revolution had been wrought 
in most parts of the Constitution. 

The Assembly of the Curies, consisting wholly of Patricians, 
once the sole and supreme Legislative Body, continued to drag on 
a sickly existence. The Curies, indeed, still retained nominal 
powers of high sound. No Consul or Dictator could assume 
the Imperium without a Curiate Law to invest him therewith. 
But what at first sight seems a veto on the appointment of the 
first officers of State, was in fact a mere form ; for the assent 
which the Curies were still allowed to give they were not allowed 
to withhold. They continued to meet even to Cicero's time, 

■ * Both Consuls were plebeian first in 1'72 B.C. ; both Censors first in 131. ■ 



Chap. XXXV. GOVERNMENT AT CLOSE OE PUNIC WARS. 37 1 

but tlieir business had then dwindled away to the regulation of 
the religious observances proper to the Patrician Gentes. A few 
Lictors, who were present fis the attendants of the presiding Magis- 
trate, alone appeared to represent the descendants of the Valerii, 
the Claudii, and the Posthumii."^ 

As the Assembly of the Curies declined, the Assembly of the 
Tribes arose. As the Comitium or Patrician Meeting-place at the 
narrow end of the Forum was deserted, the Forum itself or Ple- 
beian Meeting-place was more and more thronged.f But before we 
speak of this Assembly it will be convenient to give some account 
of the Executive Government. 

§ 4. The chief ofHcers of State employed in the administration 
of Roman affairs remained as they had been settled after the Li- 
cinian Laws. 

In Cicero's time it- is well known that every Roman who 
aspired to the highest offices was obliged to ascend through a 
regular scale of honours. An age was fixed before which each 
was unattainable. The first office so held was the Queestorship, 
and the earliest age at which this could then be gained appears 
to have been about twenty-seven. Several years were then to 
elapse before a Roman could hold the first Curule ofiice, that is, 
the j^dileship. But between this and each of the highest honours, 
the Prsetorship and the Consulship, only two complete years 
were interposed. To be chosen ^dile a man must be at least 
thirty-seven, to be Praetor at least forty, to be Consul at least 
forty-three.J 

But no settled regulations had yet been made. Many cases 
occur, both before and after the Secon^ Punic "War, in which 
men were elected to the Consulship at a very early age, and 
before they had held any other Curule office. Such was the 
case with Valerius Corvus in the Samnite Wars ; such was the 
case with the great Scipio in the Hannibalic War ; such was 
the case with Galba and Flamininus, two of the Consuls whom 
we shall find employed in the Macedonian War. Even in later 
times the rule Avas dispensed with on great emergencies or in 

* Cicero, ad Ait. iv. 18; a curious and interesting passage. 

\ In later times the Tribe Assembly became too large for the Forum. It 
might meet in any place to wliich the power of the Tribunes extended ; that 
is, any place within a mile of the city walls, and therefore in the Campus Mar- 
tius, the regular meeting-place of the Centuriate Assembly. 

j[. These ages were probably fixed by the Lex Annalis of L. Villius (b.c. 1 80). 
The age of 27 for the qu^storship is inferred from the age at which the Grac- 
chi and others are known to have held it. The other ages follow from a well- 
known passage of Cicero (de Lege Agraria^ ii. 31), in which he says that he 
held each of his curule offices at the earliest age permitted by the law. Com- 
pare De Officiis, ii. 17. 



3 "7 2 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. 

favour of particular men. The younger Scipio was elected Consul, 
though he was but candidate for the ^dileship : Marius and Sylla 
both avoided the JEdileship. 

§ 5. There can be little doubt that this last-named office was 
the least acceptable to an active and ambitious man. The chief 
duties of the ^diles related to the care of the Public Buildings 
(whence their name), the celebration of the Games and Festivals, 
the order of the streets, and other matters belonging to the depart- 
ment of Police. But the Quaestors were charged with«' business of 
a more important character. They were attached to the Consuls 
and Praetors as Treasurers and Paymasters. The Tax-gatherers 
(Publican!) paid into their hands all moneys received on account 
of the State, and out of these funds they disbursed all sums 
required for the use of the Army, the Fleet, or the Civil Adminis- 
tration. They were originally two in number, one for each Con- 
sul; but very soon they were doubled, and at the conquest of 
Italy they were increased to eight. Two always remained at 
home to conduct the business of the Treasury, the rest accompa- 
nied the Consuls, and Praetors, and Proconsuls to the most impor- 
tant provinces. 

The office of Praetor was supplementary to that of the Con- 
suls. The time of its first creation was that important crisis 
when the Consulate was half surrendered to the Plebeians.* 
The judicial functions hitherto discharged by the Consuls were 
then transferred to a special Magistrate, who assumed the name of 
Praetor, originally borne by the Consuls themselves, and the 
Patricians retained exclusive possession of this magistracy longer 
than of any other; it was not till 337 B.C., that the first Plebeian 
obtained access to it. This original Praetor was called Praetor 
TJrbanus, or President of the City Courts. A second was added 
about the time when Sicily became subject to Rome, and a new 
court was erected for the decision of cases in which foreigners 
were concerned : hence the new magistrate was called Praetor 
Peregrinus. For the government of the two first provinces, 
Sicily and Sardinia, two more Praetors were created, and when 
Spain was constituted as a double province, two more, so that 
the whole number amounted to six. In the absence of the 
Consuls the Praetors presided in the Senate and at the great 
assembly of the Centuries. They often commanded reserve 
armies in the field, but they were always subordinate to the 
Consul ; and to mark this subordinate position they were 
allowed only six Lictors,f whereas each Consul was attended by 
twelve. 

Of the Consuls it is needless to speak in this place. Their 

* Chapt. XV. § 17. f Hence their Greek name ol L^aneleKvc. 



Chap. XXXV. GOVERNMENT AT CLOSE OP PUNIC WARS. 3*73 

position as the supreme executive officers of the State is sufficiently 
indicated in every page of the History. 

§ 6. To obtain each of these high offices the Roman was obliged 
to seek the suffrages of his fellow-citizens. They were open to the 
ambition of every one whose name had been entered by the Cen- 
sors on the Register of Citizens, provided he had reached the 
required age. No office, except the Censorship, was held for a 
longer period than twelve months : no officer received any pay or 
salary for his services. To defray expenses certain allowances were 
made from the Treasury by order of the Senate. To discharge 
routine duties and to conduct their correspondence, each magistrate 
had a certain number of clerks (Scribae), who formed what we 
should call the Civil Service, and who had before this assumed an 
important position in the State.* 

But though the highest offices seemed thus absolutely open to 
every candidate, they were not so in practice. About the time 
of the First Punic War an alteration was made which, in effect, 
confined the Curule offices to the wealthy families. The JEdiles, 
as has been said, were charged with the management of the Public 
Games, and for celebrating them with due splendour an allowance 
had been made from the Treasury. At the time just mentioned 
this allowance Avas withdrawn. Yet the Curule ^diles were still 
expected to maintain the honour of Rome by costly spectacles at 
the Great Roman Games, the Megalesian Festival, and others of 
less consequence. A great change was wrought by this law, which, 
under a popular aspect, limited the choice of the people to those 
who could buy their favour. 

§ 7. That which strikes the mind as most remarkable in the 
Executive Government of Rome is the short period for which 
each magistrate held his office, and the seeming danger of leaving 
appointments so important to the suffrages of the people at large. 
And this is still more striking when we remember that the 
same system was extended to the army itself as well as to its 
generals. The Romans had no standing army. Every Roman 
citizen between the complete ages of seventeen and forty-five, 
and possessing property worth at least 4000 pounds of copper, 
was placed on the Military Roll. From this Roll four Legions, 
two for each Consul, were enlisted every year, and in cases of 
necessity additional Legions were raised. But at the close of 
the year's campaign these legionary soldiers had a right to re- 
turn home and be relieved by others. Nor were there any fixed 
officers. Each Legion had six Tribunes and sixty Centurions ; 
but these were appointed, like the Consuls and soldiers, fresh 

* See the history of Appius the Censor, and Cn. Flavins, Chapt. xxiv. § 10. 



.3'74 ROME AND CAKTHAGE. Book IV. 

every year. The majority of the Tribunes were elected by the 
people at the Comitia of the Tribes, and the remainder were nomi- 
nated by the Consuls of the year, the only limitation to such choice 
being that those elected or nominated should have served in the 
Legions at least five campaigns. The Centurions were then nomi- 
nated. by the Tribunes, subject to the approval of the Consuls. No 
doubt the Tribunes and Consuls, for their own sake, would nomi- 
nate effective men : and therefore we should conclude, what we 
find to be the fact, that the Roman armies depended chiefly on 
their Centurions, and on those Tribunes who were nominated by 
the Consuls. 

§ 8. This brief statement will sufficiently show that the Roman 
system, both in Army and State, was strictly Republican, that is, 
calculated to distribute public ofiices to as many citizens as possible, 
and to prevent power being absorbed by any single man or classes 
of men. There were no professed statesmen or ofiicers, but there 
was a large number of men who had served for a time in each ca- 
pacity. There was no standing Army, but there was a good 
Militia. There was no regularly trained soldiery, but every citizen 
had served in his time several campaigns, and every one was some- 
thing of a soldier. 

It has often been objected that this system was hurtful on the 
one hand to the successful management of war and foreign afi"airs ; 
on the other hand destructive of that liberty which is necessary 
to trade and commerce. As to the latter point it may be 
admitted at once : the Roman institutions were not framed for 
the purpose of encouraging commercial pursuits. But military 
and political success would seem likely to be thwarted no less 
effectually by this fleeting tenure of office. If a Consul was 
pursuing his operations ever so successfully, he was liable to be 
superseded at the year's close by his successor in the Consul- 
ship : and this successor brought Avith him new soldiers and 
new officers; everything, it would seem, had to be done over 
again. This was always felt in times of difficulty, and the con- 
stitutional usages were practically suspended. No Republic, 
however jealous, can rigidly carry out such a system : necessity 
will modify it in practice. During the Samnite Wars we find 
the same eminent men repeatedly elected to the Consulship, 
notwithstanding the provision that no man should hold this high 
office except at intervals of ten years. Valerius Corvus was 
first chosen Consul at three-and-twenty ; he held the office four 
times in fourteen years ; and, besides this, he often served as 
Dictator, as Praetor, and as Tribune of the Legions. The same 
remark, with slight alteration, may be made of Papirius Cursor, 
Publilius Philo, Fabius Maximus, Marcius Rex, and others, who 



Chap. XXXV SENATE AT CLOSE OF PUNIC WARS. 375 

held tlic same sovereign office repeatedly at short intervals. It 
was not till after 300 B.C. that the ten years' law seems to have 
been enforced ; and before this time another plan had been 
devised to leave the conduct of any doubtful war in the hands 
of a General who had shown himself equal to the task. In the 
year 328 B.C. the Senate first assumed the power of decreeing 
that a Consul or Praetor might be continued in his command 
for several successive years, with the title of Proconsul or Pro- 
praetor, the power of these officers being, within their own dis- 
trict, equal to the power of the Consul or Prsetor himself. The 
Proconsul also was allowed to keep part of his old army, and 
would of course continue his Tribunes and Centurions in office. 
The hope of booty and the desire to serve out their campaigns (for 
after a certain number of campaigns served the legionary w£ls 
exempt, even though he was much under forty -five years*) kept 
many soldiers in the field ; and thus the nucleus of a standing 
army was formed by each commander. In the Punic Wars the 
ten years' law was suspended altogether, and Proconsuls weio 
ordered to remain in office for years together : almost all the 
great successes of Marcellus and Scipio were gained in Proconsular 
commands. 

§ 9. But though the chief officers both in State and Army were 
continually changing at the popular will, there was a mighty power 
behind them, on which they were all dependent, which did not 
■change. This was the Senate. 

The importance of this body can hardly be overstated. All the 
acts of the Roman Republic ran in the name of the Senate and 
People, as if the Senate were half the state, though its number 
seems still to have been limited to Three Hundred members. 

The Senate of Rome was perhaps the most remarkable assem- 
bly that the world has ever seen. Its members held their seats 
for life ; once Senators always Senators, unless they were degraded 
for some dishonourable cause. But the Senatorial Peerage was 
not hereditary. No father could transmit the honour to his son. 
Each man must win it for himself. 

The manner in which seats in the Senate were obtained is 
tolerably well ascertained. Many persons will be surprised to 
learn that the members of this august body, all — or nearly all — 
owed their places to the votes of the people. In theory, indeed, 
the Censors still possessed the power really exercised by the 
Kings and early Consuls, of choosing the Senators at their own 
will and pleasure. But official powers, however arbitrary, are 

* Such exempts were called Emeriti, — qui stipendia legitima fecissent. The 
number of campaigns required was 20 for the infantry, 10 for the cavalry. 



376 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. 

always limited in practice; and the Censors followed rules 
established by ancient precedent. A notable example of the 
rule by which the list of the Senate was made, occurs at a 
period when, if ever, there was wide room for the exercise of 
discretion. After the fatal days of Thrasymene and Cannse, it was 
found that to complete the just number of Senators, no less than 
one hundred and seventy were Avanting. Two years were yet to 
pass before new Censors would be in office ; and to provide an 
extraordinary remedy for an extraordinary case, M. Fabius Buteo, 
an old Senator of high character, was named Dictator for the 
sole purpose of recruiting the vacant ranks of his Order. He 
thus discharged his duty. " After reciting the names of all sur- 
viving Senators, he chose as new members, first, those who had 
held Curule offices since the last Censorship, according to the 
order of their election ; then those who had served as yEdiles, 
Tribunes, or Qusestors ; then, of those who had not held office, 
such as had decorated their houses with spoils taken from the 
enemy, or with crowns bestowed for saving the lives of fellow- 
citizens."* 

In the interval between two Censorships, that is in the course 
of five years, the number of Ex-Qusestors alone must have 
amounted to at least forty, and this was more than sufficient 
to fill the number of vacancies which would have occurred in 
ordinary times. The first qualification for a seat in the Senate 
then was that of Office. It is probable that to the qualification 
of office there was added a second, of Property. Such was 
certainly the case in later times. The Emperor Augustus fixed 
the property qualification of Senators at double that required 
of the Equestrian Order. And so early as the Hannibalic War, 
-we have seen that when all orders were required to contribute to- 
wards a fleet, the Senators were called upon to equip a larger 
number of seamen than the citizens of the First Class ;f a requisi- 
tion which seems absurd, unless Senators had been the wealthiest 
men in the State. A third limitation, that of Age, followed from 
the rule that the Senate was recruited from the lists of official per- 
sons. No one could be a Senator till he was about thirty years of 
age. _ 

Such is a sketch of the constitution of this great Council during 
the best times of the Republic. It formed a true Aristocracy. 
Its members, almost all, possessed the knowledge derived from 
the discharge of public office and from mature age. They were 
recommended to their places by popular election, and yet. se- 

* When Appius the Censor transgressed the rule, new Censors were ap- 
pointed, to make out a list according to old custom. V. Chapt. xxiv. § 15. 
f Chapt. xxxiii. § 5. 



Chap. XXXV. SENATE AT CLOSE OP PUNIC WARS. 377 

cured from subserviency to popular will by tbe amount of tbeir 
property. Forty or fifty Consulars at least, ten or twelve men to 
whom had been committed the delicate trusts belonging to the 
ofiice of Censor, with a number of younger aspirants to these high 
objects of ambition, were to be counted in its ranks. It was not 
by a mere figure of speech that the minister of Pyrrhus called 
the Eoman Senate " an Assembly of Kings." Many of its mem- 
bers had exercised Sovereign power ; many were preparing to 
exercise it. 

§ 10. The power of the Senate was equal to its dignity. It 
absorbed into its ranks a large proportion of the practical ability 
of the community. It was a standing Council, where all oflicial 
functions were annual. And thus it is but natural that it should 
engross the chief business of the State. 

First, in regard to Legislation, they exercised an absolute con- 
trol over the Centuriate Assembly, because no law could be sub- 
mitted to its votes which had not originated in the Senate ; and 
thus the vote of the Centuries could not do more than place a veto 
on a Senatorial Decree. In respect to the Legislation of the Tribe 
Assembly, their control was less authoritative ; but of this we will 
speak presently. 

In respect to Foreign Affairs, the power of the Senate was 
absolute, except in declaring war or concluding treaties of 
peace, — matters which were submitted to the votes of the 
People.* They assigned to the Consuls and Prastors their 
respective provinces of administration and command ; they 
fixed the amount of the troops to be levied every year from the 
list of Roman citizens, and of the contingents to be furnished 
by the Italian allies. They prolonged the command of a general 
or superseded him at pleasure. They estimated the sums neces- 
sary for the military chest ; nor could a sesterce be paid to the 
General without their order. If a Consul proved refractory, they 
could transfer his power for the time to a Dictator ; even if his 
success had been great, they could refuse him the honour of a 
Triumph. Ambassadors to foreign states were chosen by them 
and from them ; so were the frequent Commissions appointed for 
transacting business abroad, either in treating with foreign po- 
tentates, or settling the government of conquered countries. All 
disputes in Italy or beyond seas Avere referred to their sovereign 
arbitrement. 

In the administration of Home Affairs, all the regulation of 

* Declarations of "War were submitted to the Centuriate Assembly, treaties 
of Peace to the Tribes. See the commencement of the First Punic and Mace- 
donian wars (Chapt. xxviii. § 7, xxxix. § 12), and the treaties at the close of 
the First Punic and Hannibalic wars (Chapt. xxix. § 23, xxxiv. § 26). 



3V8 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IY. 

religious matters was in their hands ; they exercised superinten- 
dence over the Pontiffs and other ministers of public worship. 
They appointed days for extraordinary festivals, for thanksgiving 
after victory, for humiliation after defeat. But, which was of 
highest importance, all the Financial arrangements of the State 
were left to their discretion. The Censors, at periods usually not 
exceeding five years in duration, formed estimates of annual out- 
lay, and provided ways and means for meeting these estimates ; 
but always under the direction of the Senate. 

In all these matters, both of Home and Foreign administra- 
tion, their Decrees had the power of law. In times of difficulty 
they had the power of suspending all rules of law, by the appoint- 
ment of a Dictator, or by investing the Consuls with Dictatorial 
power. 

Besides these Administrative functions, they might resolve them- 
selves into a High Court of Justice for the trial of extraordinary 
offences. But in this matter they obtained far more definite 
authority by the Calpurnian Law, which about fifty years later 
established High Courts of Justice, in Avhich Prsetors acted as pre- 
siding judges, but the Senators were the Jury. 

It appears, then, that the Senate of Rome was not, like our Par- 
liament, a merely deliberative and legislative body, but a great 
Sovereign Council, controlling every branch of administration, and 
nearly all matters of legislation also. The Consuls and Praetors 
were its Ministers of Foreign and Home Affairs ; the Censors its 
Ministers of Finance ; the Quaestors its Treasurers and Paymasters; 
the JEdiles its Superintendents of Police and Public Works. It 
Avas at the present time, and for many years later, the main-spring 
of the Roman Constitution. 

§ 11. Our attention must now be directed to the two great 
Legislative Assemblies of the Roman People, well known respec- 
tively under the names af the Assembly of the Classes and Cen- 
turies, and the Assembly of the Tribes, which had now entirely 
superseded the ancient Patrician Assembly of the Curies. 

A description was given in a former page of the manner in 
which King Servius so organised the great Centuriate Assem- 
bly as to give the privilege of a vote to every citizen, yet so as 
to leave all real power in the hands of the wealthier classes. But 
at some time between the Decemvirate and the Second Punic 
War, a complete reform had been made in the organisation of 
Servius. When this was we know not.* Nor do we know the 

* Niebuhr and many others attribute the reform to the Censorship of Fabius 
and Decius (Chapt. xxiv. § 15). Others place it as late as the Censorship of 
C. Plaminius, only two years before Hannibal crossed the Alps. There is no 
evidence to justify any positive conclusion. 



Chap. XXXV. POPULAR ASSEMBLIES. 379 

precise nature of the reform. This only is certain, that the 
distribution of the whole people into Tribes was taken as the 
basis of division in the Centuriate Assembly as Avell as in the 
Assembly of the Tribes, and yet that the division into Classes 
and Centuries was still retained, as well as the division into 
Seniores and Juniores. The maintenance of this last division 
preserved the military character of this great Assembly ; the in> 
troduction of the Tribes as a basis of division gave it a more 
democratic character than before ; while the preservation of 
the Class system made it moxe aristocratic than the Tribe 
Assembly. 

In the absence of positive evidence, we may here give what 
is the most probable constitution of the Reformed Centuriate 
Assembly. It is assumed then, that the whole People was con- 
vened according to its division into thirty-five Tribes ; that in 
each Tribe, account was taken of the five Classes, arranged ac- 
cording to an ascending scale of property, which, however, had 
been greatly altered from that attributed to Servius ; and that 
in each Tribe each of the five Classes was subdivided into two 
Centuries, one of Seniores, or men between forty-five and sixty, 
one of Juniores, or men between eighteen and forty-five. On 
the whole, then, with the addition of eighteen Centuries of 
Knights, there would be 368 Centuries. This plan, though it 
allowed far less influence to wealth than the plan of Servius, 
would yet leave a considerable advantage to the richer classes. 
For it is plain that the two Centuries of the First Class in each 
Tribe would contain far fewer members than the two Centuries 
of the Second Class, those of the Second fewer than those of 
the Third, and all those of the first four together, probably, fewer 
than those of the Fifth. Yet these four Tribes having in all 
240, or (with the Knights) 258 Centuries, would command an 
absolute majority; for the question was still decided not by the 
majority of persons, but by the majority of Centuries. 

§ 12. While the Centuriate Assembly was becoming more 
popular in its constitution, a still more democratic body had 
come into existence, namely, the Assembly of the Tribes. 

There can be no doubt that when the Centuriate Assembly 
was restored by the Patricians after the expulsion of Tarquin, it 
was intended to be the sole Legislative body. The more recent 
Legislative Assembly of the Tribes was a spontaneous growth of 
popular will, not contemplated by statesmen. The Tribe As- 
sembly, originally intended to conduct the business of the Ple- 
beian Order, gradually extended its power over the whole Body 
politic ; and its ordinances (Piebiscita) obtained all the force of 
laws. 



380 ROME AND CARTHAGE. BOOK IV. 

It is in tlie history of the Tribunate that we trace the course 
of the insensible revolution which made the Assembly of Tribes 
the chief Legislative body in the State. 

The Tribunes were, as their name denotes, the Presidents and 
Ministers of the Tribes. They were originally invested with 
political authority for the purpose of protecting the persons of 
the Plebeians from the arbitrary punishments inflicted by the 
Patrician Magistrates. It was no doubt intended that this au- 
thority should be only suspensive, so as to prevent sudden acts 
of violence. But the Tribunes soon assumed the licence of 
standing between Plebeians and the law. Thus they established 
the celebrated right of Intercession, which in course of time they 
extended to all matters. They forbade trials, stopped elections, 
put a veto on the passing of laws. So far, however, their power 
was only negative. But when the Tribe Assembly obtained 
legislative rights, the Tribunes obtained a positive authority. The 
power of the Tribunes and of the Tribes implied each other. The 
Plebeian Assembly was dead without able and resolute Tribunes; 
the Tribunes were impotent without the democracy at their back. 

This relation was at once established when the election of the 
Tribunes was committed to the Tribes themselves. The Tribunes 
soon began to summon the Tribes to discuss political questions; 
and the formidable authority which they now wielded appeared 
in the overthrow of the Decemvirate and the recognition of the 
Tribe Assembly as a Legislative body. The political powers 
then gained by the Valerio-Horatian laws were confirmed and 
extended by the popular Dictators, Q. Publilius Philo and Q. 
Hortensius.* It is impossible to estimate the amount of con- 
cession made by each of these laws. All that can be determined 
is, that by these laws — all of them passed at the Centuriate 
Assembly — the Tribes were constituted by the side of the other 
Assembly as a complete and independent Legislative body, and 
that no person except a Tribune could introduce a measure for 
their approval. Before the first of these laws was passed, the 
votes of the Tribe Assembly were merely like the rules of a 
parish meeting, having no reference to the community at large. 
After these laws were conceded, the Plebiscita obtained the 
authority of law, and were binding on the whole community. 
For a long period, however, only the measures of the Centuriate 
Assembly were dignified with the name of Leges ; but in later 
times the name Lex was applied indiscriminately to the measures 
passed by both Assemblies. 

§ 13. Thus the Roman Constitution presents us with the ap' 

* See Chapters x. § 22 ; xx. § 11 ; xxv. § 2. 



Chap. XXXV. POPULAR ASSEMBLIES. 381 

parent anomaly of two distinct Legislative Assemblies, each 
independent of the other; for laws passed in the one did not 
require the sanction of the other, as is the case with our Houses 
of Parliament. Nor were any distinct provinces of action 
assigned respectively to each . This being so, we should expect 
to find the one clashing with the other ; to hear of popular laws 
emanating from the one body met with a counter-project from 
the other. But no such struggles are recorded. The only way 
in which it can be known that a particular law is due to the 
more popular or to the more aristocratic Assembly is by looking 
to the name of the mover, by which every law was designated. 
If the name be that of a Tribune, the law must be referred to the 
Tribe Assembly. If the name be that of a Consul, Praetor, or 
Dictator, the law must be referred to the Centuriate Assembly. 
What, then, were the causes which prevented collisions which 
appear inevitable ? 

§ 14. First, it must be remembered that, though the Centuriate 
Assembly had been made more democratic, yet the Tribe As- 
sembly was very far indeed from a purely democratic body. In 
the latter, the suffrages were taken by the head in each of the 
thirty-five Tribes, and if eighteen Tribes voted one way, and 
seventeen another, the question was decided by the votes of the 
eighteen. But the eighteen rarely, if ever, contained an abso- 
lute majority of citizens. For the whole population of Rome, 
Avith all the Freedmen, were thrown into four Tribes only,* and 
if these four Tribes were in the minority, there can be no 
doubt that the minority of Tribes represented a majority of 
voters. Thus even in the more popular Assembly, there was 
not wanting a counterpoise to the will of the mere majority. 

§ 15. A still more effective check to collision is to be found in 
the fact that all measures proposed to the Tribe Assembly by the 
Tribes, as well as the Centuriate Laws proposed by the Consuls 
or other Ministers of the Senate, must first receive the sanction 
of the Senate itself. The few exceptions which occur are where 
Tribunes propose a Resolution granting to a popular Consul the 
Triumph refused by the Senate. But these exceptions only 
serve to prove the rule. 

§ 16. Our surprise that no collision is heard of between the 
two Assemblies now takes another form, and we are led to ask 
how it came that, if all measures must be first approved by the 
Senate, any substantial power at all could belong to the Tribes ? 
It would seem that they also, like the Centuriate Assembly, 
could at most exercise only a veto on measures emanating from 
the great Council. 

* See Chapt, xxiv. § 15. 



382 EOME AND CARTHAGE. Book IY. 

That this result did not follow, is due to the rude but formid- 
able counter-check provided by the Tribunate. The persons of 
the Tribunes were inviolable ; but the Tribunes had power to 
place even Consuls under arrest. By the advance of their inter- 
cessory prerogative they gradually built up an authority capable 
of overriding all other powers in the State. 

It is plain that if the Senate and the Tribunes had both in- 
sisted on their respective rights of initiation and intercession, 
Legislation must have come to a standstill. But it was to the 
credit of all orders at Rome, that hitherto they had always 
agreed to a peaceful compromise. The Senate, by its very 
composition, contained men of widely different sentiments ; the 
Plebeians, as we have seen, obtained access to its ranks at an 
early period.* Its members were taken from the official lists, 
and official personages are never disposed to push matters to 
extremity. Old soldiers Avill maintain a position while it is 
defensible : when it ceases to be so, they make an honourable 
retreat. As in early times we find the Senate far more moderate 
than the hot Patrician party, who would have resisted the 
demands of the Plebeians at all hazards, so in a later age we 
shall see this experienced Council taking a middle course 
between the stiff conservative policy of the Nobility and the 
violence of the Democratic Leaders. On the other hand, the 
College of Tribunes, consisting of Ten Members, Avere seldom 
so unanimous as to be able to thwart the Senate with effect. 
We shall find that it was by divisions in the College that their 
formidable power was often broken. 

§ 1 7. We are now better able to appreciate the position of the 
two Assemblies as Legislative Bodies. The Tribe Assembly was 
presided over by ofiicers of its own choice, invested with autho- 
rity generally sufficient to extort from the Senate leave to bring 
in Laws of a popular character. ISTo such power resided in the 
Presidents of the Centuriate Assembly : for the Consuls were 
little more than Ministers of the Senate. It was natural that 
the more energetic will of the jDopular leaders should exalt their 
own Assemblies ; and as two Legislative Assemblies could not 
coexist with full and independent powers, it was no less natural 
that the more aristocratic body should suffer decay. Between 
the time when the Tribes gained legislative power and the close 
of the Hannibalic War, there are recorded but eleven Centuriate 
Laws, and more than thirty which emanated from the Tribes. 
Even of these eleven, five Avere measures of compromise, which 
served to advance the authority of the Tribes. The Centuriate 

* Chapt. xii. § 8. 



Chap. XXXV. POPULAR ASSEMBLIES. 383 

Assembly more and more became a passive instrument in tho 
bands of tbe Senate. Tbe Tribe Assembly rose to be tlie real 
and sole organ of popular opinion. 

§ 18. In otber matters, tbe powers of tbe two Assemblies were 
more definitely marked and tbe limits better observed. 

In Elections, tbe Centuriate Assembly always retained tbe 
riglit of cboosing tbe cbief Officers of State, tbe Consuls, tbe 
Praetors, and tbe Censors. Tbe Tribe Assembly, originally, 
elected only tbeir own Tribunes and tbe Plebeian ^diles. But 
in no long time tbey obtained tbe rigbt of cboosing also tbe 
Curule -iEdiles, tbe Quaestors, the great majority of tbe Legionary 
Tribunes, and all inferior Officers of State. But as tbe Centuriea 
were, generally, obliged to elect tbeir Prsetors and Consuls out 
of tbose wbo had already been elected Quaestors and vEdiles by 
tbe Tribes, it is manifest that tbe elective power of tbe former 
was controlled and over-ridden by the latter. In conferring 
extraordinary commands, such as that of Scipio in Spain, the 
Tribes were always consulted, not tbe Centuries. 

§ 19. In regard to Jurisdiction, it has before been noticed that 
Rome was tender of tbe personal liberties of her citizens. Various 
Laws of Appeal provided for an open trial before his peers of 
any one charged with grave offences, such as would subject him 
to stripes, imprisonment, or death.* Now the Centuries alone 
formed a High Court of Justice for tbe trial of citizens ; tbe 
Tribe Assembly never achieved this dangerous privilege. But 
tbe peculiar nature of tbe Tribunician power offered to the cbief 
officers of the Tribes a ready means of interference. They used 
their rigbt of intercession, occasionally, to prevent any trial from 
taking place, and thus screened real offenders from justice. But 
more frequently they acted on tbe offensive. There was a 
merciful provision of the law of Rome, by which a person liable 
to a state-prosecution might withdraw from Italian soil at any 
time before his trial, and become the citizen of some allied city, 
such as Syracuse or Pergamus. But the Tribunes sometimes 
threw culprits into prison before trial, as in the case of App. 
Claudius tbe Decemvir and bis father. Or, after a culprit had 
sought safety in voluntary exile, they proposed a Bill of Outlawry, 
by which be was " interdicted from fire and water" on Italian 
soil, and all his goods were confiscated. Offending Magistrates 
were also fined heavily, without trial, by special Plebiscita, which 
resembled the Bills of Attainder so familiar to the reader of 
English history. 

These encroachments of the Tribunes were met by other un- 

^ Chapt. xi. § 4. 



SB4- ROME AND CARTHAGE. SoQK lY. 

constitutional measures on the part of the Senate. To bar the 
action of the Tribunes and to suspend the Laws of Appeal, they 
at one time had constant recourse to Dictatorial appointments. 
Ten years after the nomination of Dictators had been solemnly 
prohibited by the Valerio-Horatian Laws (449 B.C.) Cincinnatus 
approved the act of Ahala, Avho had struck down the popular 
champion Q, Mselius in the Forum. In the following 237 years 
the Fasti supply the names of 65 Dictators, of whom no fewer 
than 37 appear in the 67 years next after the Licinian Laws. 
Three of these are expressly said to have been named for the 
purpose of quelling sedition.* But it must be remembered 
that of those appointed for special military service,f many xised 
their power to overawe the Plebeian leaders. It is a complaint 
constantly put by Livy into the mouths of the Tribunes, that 
Dictators were appointed nominally to carry on war, but really 
for a very different purpose ; nor indeed is it conceivable that so 
many emergencies should have occurred requiring the special 
action of an irresponsible magistrate. But these contests slackened 
at the time of the Samnite Wars. Dictators were again named, 
but for real service, in the desperate conflict of the Punic Wars. 
After that none are heard of till the time of Sylla. 

We shall find, however, that in critical time?, the Senate as- 
sumed the right of investing the Consuls with dictatorial power. 
And the dispute about jurisdiction over the persons of citizens 
assumed a new form when the Calpurnian law, already noticed, 
transferred the power of trying all grave ofi"ences from the 
Centuries to Juries of the Senate under the presidency of the 
Prwtor. 

§ 20. It must not here be forgotten that of late years circum- 
stances had greatly exalted the power of the Senate and propor- 
tionally diminished the power of the Tribunes. In great wars, 
especially such as threaten the existence of a community, the 
voice of popular leaders is little heard. Reforms are forgotten. 
Agitation ceases. Each man applies his energies to avert present 
danger, rather than to achieve future improvements. During 
the Samnite Wars, scarcely one Tribunician law is recorded in 
the Annals : but no sooner is the peril overpast than the Ogulnian 
fjaw opens the Augurate to the Plebeians. During the first Punic 
War, the Forum is silent : but no sooner is it ended than we 
are struck by the appearance of a leader of the Commons, bold, 
resolute, and accomplished. This was C. Flaminius. In 232 

* Sedandce seditionis causa. 

•j- Eei gerendce causa. The third cause for appointing Dic^"ators was clavi 
figendi causa, — to drive a nail into the door-post of the Temple of Jupiter, as a 
rude way of keeping count of the years. 



Chap. XXXV. INCREASED POWER OF SENATE. 385 

B.C., being Tribune, he proposed an Agrarian Law to distribute 
the lands taken from the Boians and Insubrians to a large number 
of Colonists; and notwithstanding the opposition of the Senate, 
the colonies of Placentia and Cremona Avere founded. In the 
memorable year in which Hannibal crossed the Alps, Flaminius 
was Consul-elect, and under his auspices the Tribune Claudius 
obliged the Senate to consent to a law by which Senators were 
prohibited from engaging in commercial pursuits. Nor did the 
popular spirit evoked bl^ this man die till after the great battle 
of Cannse. His own election and that of Terentius Varro were 
directly contrary to the wisheo of the Senate ; and the measure 
by which Fabius was obliged to share his imperial power with 
Minucius his Master of the Horse, was a Plebiscitum proposed 
by a Tribune. Even after Cannse, thexTribune Oppius forced 
the Senate to consent to a sumptuary law. But after this, the 
Senate under the leading of old Fabius Cunctator ruled abso- 
lutely for several years. Even elections to the Consulate, which 
he deemed inopportune, were set aside, — a thing without pre- 
cedent in Roman constitutional history. Fabius was at length 
superseded by young Scipio, who in his turn became absolute, 
and at the close of the war might have made himself Dictator, 
had he been so pleased. At present, popular spirit had fallen 
asleep. Constitutional opposition there was none. The Senate 
seemed likely to retain in peace the power which war had neces- 
sarily thrown into their hands. 





Temple of Saturn. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 



THE PROVINCES AND FINANCES. 

§ 1. Provincial and Italian Communities. § 2. Our knowledge chiefly drawn 
from Sicily. § 3. Condition of the Sicilian Cities after the Second Punic 
"War. § 4. General principles of Provincial G-ovemment : similarity of 
Provincial Towns to ItaUan. § 5. Difference, chiefly consisting in Taxa- 
tion : Jus Italicum. § 6. Treasury. § T. Ordinary Revenues. § 8. 
Extraordinary Tax on Property levied for war expenses. § 9. Not suffi- 
cient for expenses of Second Punic "War : Loans, Contracts paid in paper- 
money: nature of these advances: soon repaid. § 10. The War Tax 
itself repaid: finally abohshed. § 11. How far Italians contributed to 
war expenses: reasons for their patience. § 12. System of Taxation and 
Tax-gathering in the Provinces. § 13. Corrupt administration of Pro- 
vincial Government. 

§ 1. After this general view of the manner in which the dif- 
ferent elements of the Eoman Constitution were roughly welded 
into a sort of unity, we must give some account of the Imperial 
relations subsisting between Eome and her subjects at the be- 



Chap. XXXVI. PROYINCIAL GOVERNMENT. . 387 

ginning of the second century before the Christian Era, and 
especially of the way in which the expenses of government were 
defrayed. In speaking of the subjects of the great Republic, 
the Latin and Italian Allies are not included. What has been 
said of them in a former Chapter will show the justice of this 
distinction. It is true, indeed, that all the Italians were not 
Allies ; for the Prefectures and some small communities were 
strictly subject. Nor were all the Provincial communities sub- 
ject ; for a favoured few were left in a condition as independent 
as any Italian city. But, as a general rule, the Italian Com- 
munities were allied, the Provincial communities were subject. 

§ 2. At the close of the Hannibalic War, Rome was in pos- 
session, nominally, of five Provinces, Sicily, Sardinia, the Gallic 
coast of Umbria (then called the Province of Ariminum), with 
Hither and Further Spain, But of these, Sardinia and the 
Spains were almost to be conquered again ; and Gallic Umbria 
was shortly after absorbed into Italy, while the magnificent dis- 
trict between the Alps and the Gulf of Genoa became the Pro- 
vince of Gaul. Sicily was the only Province as yet constituted 
on a solid foundation. To Sicily, therefore, we will confine our 
remarks ; a course which is further recommended by the fact 
that we are better informed with regard to Sicily than with 
regard to any other of the foreign possessions of the Republic. 

§ 3. We must call to mind that, in speaking of Sicily as of 
Italy, we are not to think of the country as a whole, but as 
broken up into a number of Civic Communities, each being more 
or less isolated from the rest. It was Roman policy to en- 
courage - this isolation, but in Sicily no encouragement was 
needed. Sicily, like Greece Proper, had long been divided into 
numerous small States, sometimes Republican, sometimes subject 
to Tyrants, but alwayl full of jealousy towards each other, and 
often in a state of war. Strong rulers, like Dionysius the Elder, 
might for a season unite the greater part of the island under the 
supremacy of Syracuse ; but as soon as the coercive force of 
military despotism was removed, disruption followed. At the 
close of the First Punic War, when the Romans had expelled the 
Carthaginians from the island, the greater part of it was formed 
into a Province ; while the kingdom of Hiero, consisting of Syra- 
cuse with six dependent communities,* was received into free 
alliance with Rome. But in the Second Punic War, Syracuse 
and all Sicily was reconquered by Marcellus and Lsevinus, and 
the form of the Provincial Communities was altered. The cities 
of Sicily were now divided into three classes. First, there were 

# 

* Acrse, Leontini, Megara, Helorum, Netum, Tauromemum. 



388 . ROME AND CARTHAGE. BOOK lY. 

those cities wliicli had been taken by siege : these, twenty -six in 
number, were mulcted of their territory, which became part of 
the public land of Rome ;* their former citizens had perished 
in war, or had been sold as slaves, or were living as serfs on the 
soil which they had formerly owned. Secondly, there were a 
large number of Communities, thirty-four in all, which retained 
the fee-simple of their land, but were burthened with payment 
of a tithe of corn, wine, oil, and other produce, according to 
a rule established by Hiero in the district subject to Syracuse.f 
Thirdly, there were eight Communities left independent, which 
were, like the Italians, free from all imposts, except certain 
military services. 

These states were all left in possession of what we should call 
Municipal institutions ; they had the right of self-government in 
all local matters, with popular assemblies and councils, such as 
were common in Greek communities. But all were subject to 
the authority of a governor, sent from Rome, with the title of 
Praetor, whose business it was to adjudicate in all matters where 
the interests of Rome or of Roman citizens were concerned, and, 
above all, to provide for the regular payment of the imposts. 
In Sicily, which in those days was a av ell-cultivated and produc- 
tive country, this department was so important, that the Prsetor 
was assisted by two Quaestors, one stationed at Syracuse, the 
other at Lilybseum. 

§ 4. This brief statement will show the principles of Roman 
Provincial government. Communities which, during the War 
of Conquest, had joined the invaders at once or at a critical point 
in the war, were left free from all ordinary and annual imposts. 
Cities that were taken by force became, with their territory, the 
absolute property of Rome. Between these extremes there was 
a large class, which retained full possession of their lands, and 
complete local independence, but were subject to the payment 
of yearly imposts to the imperial treasury, which were levied on 
the produce of their land. All alike were obliged to contribute 
towards the expenses of the Praetor's court and government. 

In the formation of the numerous Provinces which were con- 
quered in the next eighty years, the same principles were fol- 
lowed. But it is probable that there was a greater uniformity 
in the condition of the various communities. In many of the 
Provinces there seem to have been no large portions of public 
land, as in Sicily : while, on the other hand, the States both 

* Therefore called Oivitaies Censorice. 

\ Of these, three were allied cities, Civitates FederatoP; Messana, Tauro- 
menium, Netum, ; five were free without any special treaty of alliance, 
Civitates Liberce et inimunes, Centuripa, Alesa, Segesta, Panormus, Halicyas. 



Ch-U-. XXXVI. REVENUES OP ROME. 389 

in independence and alliance seem also to have been less nume- 
rous. In a general "way, the administration of each Province 
much resembled that of Italy itself. The Prefectures, Municipia, 
and allied States of Italy correspond very nearly to the three 
conditions of Provincial Communities above noticed ; the prin- 
ciple of administration was, generallj^, internal independence 
under the control of the central government of the Senate. In 
Italy, the Senate acted through the Consuls or Praetor resident 
at Rome ; in the Provinces, through the Praetors or Proconsuls 
deputed to conduct the government there. 

§ 5. There were, however, some important particulars, in which 
the constitution of Italy differed from the constitution of the Pro- 
vinces. In the Provinces, as we have said, the free and allied 
Communities formed the exceptions. Nor was it, till long after 
the present time, the practice to found Colonies out of Italy. 

But there was one yet more important distinction. It was a 
general rule that all Italian land was tax-free ; and that all Pro- 
vincial land, except such as was specified in treaties or in Decrees 
of the Senate, was subject to tax. This rule was so absolute, that 
the exemption of land from taxation was known by the technical 
name of Jus Italicum or the Right of Italy. 

This last distinction implies that the Imperial revenues were 
raised chiefly from the Provinces. In the course of little more 
than thirty years from the close of the Hannibalic "War, this was 
actually the case. "We will take this opportunity of giving a brief 
account of the different sources from which the revenues of Rome 
were raised. 

§ 6. The Imperial Treasury of Rome was in the ancient Temple 
of Saturn, situated at the end of the Forum beneath the Capitol, 
of which three stately columns still remain to attest the magni- 
ficence Vi^ith which it was restored by the Emperor Severus. 
Here the two Quaestors of the city deposited all the moneys re- 
ceived on account of the State. No disbursements could be made 
without an order from an ofiicer duly authorised by the Senate. 
For the moneys received, the Quaestors also had to account to 
the Senate. The sources of receipt were two-fold, ordinary and 
extraordinary. 

§ 7. The Ordinary Revenues consisted of the proceeds and rent 
of public property, custom-duties, tolls, and the like, and the tax 
levied on Provincial lands. 

The property of the State was, as has often been noticed, very 
large. Much of the public land, however, had been distributed 
to colonies, and the rent received for the rest seems to have been 
small. Yet the quantity of undistributed land in Italy and 
Sicily was so great, that it must have yielded a considerable re- 



390 BOMB AND CARTHAGE. Book IT. 

venue. Besides this, the fisheries, with all mines and quarries,. 
Avere considered public property. Even the manufacture of salt 
was a State monopoly from the Censorship of M. Livius, who 
thenceforth bore the name of Salinator, or the Salt-maker. It is 
fair to state, however, that this monopoly was intended to keep 
salt at a lower price than it could be manufactured by private 
enterprise, and therefore, though it might be a mistake, the 
Senate is not properly chargeable with the odium of raising re- 
venue from one of the first necessaries of life, as was the practice 
in France before the Eevolution, and as has remained the practice 
in India to the present day. 

Besides these rents and monopolies, custom-duties were levied 
on certain kinds of goods, both exports and imports, and tolls 
were demanded for passengers and goods carried by canals or 
across bridges and ferries.* 

There Avas also an ad valorem duty of five per cent, imposed on 
the manumission of slaves. This was not carried to the account 
of the year, but laid by as a reserve-fund, not to be used except in 
great emergencies. 

The revenue derived from the Provincial Land-tax was only 
beginning to be productive, but in a few years it formed the chief 
income of the Republic. 

§ 8. It appears that for the Civil government of the Republic 
the Ordinary Revenues were found sufiicient. The current ex- 
penses, indeed, were small. The Italian and Provincial Commu- 
nities defrayed the expenses of their own administration. Rome 
herself, as we have said, claimed the services of her statesmen and 
administrators without paying them any public salaries. 

In time of war, however, the Ordinary Revenues failed, and to 
meet the expenses of each year's campaign an Extraordinary Tax 
was levied as required. This Avas the Tributum or Property- 
tax. Its mode of assessment marks its close association with 
war-expenses. We have seen above that the whole arrangement 
of the Centuriate Assembly Avas military. Not the least im- 
portant of these Avas the Census or Register of all citizens, 
arranged according to their age and property. It was made out 
by the Censors at intervals of five years, and served during the 
succeeding period as the basis of taxation. The necessities of 
each year determined the amount to be levied. It Avas usually 
one in a thousand, or one-tenth per cent-f The Senate had the 

* These dues {portoria, as they Avere called) Avere extended to each Pro- 
vince as it Avas formed, and Avere abolished in Italy in the year 60 B.C. 

f This Avas the simplex tributum. The As^ord tributum, was used because 
this Avar-tax Avas collected in each tribe, according to the assessment of the 
Censors. The tribe-officers who collected it Avore the Tribuni Aerarii. 



Chap. XXXYI. TAXES AND LOANS. 3 91 

power of calling- for tliis payment. It was this " power of the 
purse" wliicli, in time of war, enabled tliem to play so great a 
part. No people can control its government effectually, unless it 
has the right of taxing itself. 

§ 9. In the Second Punic War this tax was quite insufficient to 
meet the expenses. Once it Avas doubled.* But at length it 
became necessary to call on Avealthy individuals to furnish sea- 
men, and to advance money by way of loan ; and contracts were 
formed with commercial companies to furnish stores and clothing 
for the army, in return for which they received orders on the 
Treasury payable at some future time.f The obligations thus 
contracted were not left as a national debt ; though the Hanni- 
balic War was so entirely a struggle for existence, that it might 
well have justified the Senate in laying part of the load upon 
posterity by the expedient which has been so much abused in 
modern times. But probably this expedient was not thought 
of. Those who made advances to the State without prospect 
of immediate payment, did so on speculation. If Rome pre- 
vailed, they were sure not to lose. If she fell, the practice of 
ancient warfare made it certain that they would lose all they 
had. The advancement of money or goods, therefore, was rather 
an act of prudent policy, than of extraordinary patriotism. 
The first and chief contributors were the Senators, who had 
much to lose and all to gain. No doubt, those who gave freely 
and without interest deserved well of their country. But, in 
serving the State they also served themselves. The whole con- 
cerns of the State, formed a great joint-stock company : every 
man had an interest in success and failure. We find, accord- 
ingly, that the first instalment of repayment was made in the year 
204 B.C., immediately after the submission of Carthage ; the 
second and third at successive intervals of four years.J 

§ 10. But here it must be observed that the war-tax itself in 
some degree resembled a compulsory loan. It was a forced con- 
tribution to the necessities of the State ; but it was repaid, in 
whole or in part, on the successful completion of the war. The 
soldiers who survived battles won or towns captured, seldom 
failed to gain a large share of booty. The greater portion, how- 
ever, was sold, and the money received paid into the Treasury, 
while the expenses of the war were in whole or in part charged 
upon the conquered people. From these funds which may be 
considered as another source of extraordinary revenue, it seems 
to have been the practice to repay the sums raised by way of 

* Duplex tributum imperatum (Liv. xxiii. 31). 

f Chapt. xxsiii. § 4. j;. Liv. xxix. 15 ; xxxL 13 ; xxxiii. 42. 



392 ROME AND CARTHAGE, Book IY: 

property-tax during the war.* At length, in the year 167 b.c, 
we shall find that the payments exacted from the Provincials 
became so large that the Senate was enabled to dispense with 
extraordinary taxes altogether ; and thus the ordinary revenues 
sufficed for the expenses of all future wars, as well as for the civil 
administration, 

§ 11. When it is said that the Italian allies were free from 
Land-tax, it must not be supposed that they escaped all taxation. 
Roman land was free from direct taxation except when the Tri- 
butum or war-tax was levied. So, also, the allied Communities 
of Italy, the Municipia and Colonies, were free from all direct 
burthens, except in time of Avar, Then each Community was 
required, according to a scale furnished by its own Censor, to 
supply contingents of soldiery to the Roman army, such contin- 
gents bearing a proportion to the number of legions levied by 
the Romans themselves in any given year. The Italian soldiery 
were fed by Rome ; but their equipments and pay were provided 
at the expense of their own States : and therefore it is plain that 
every Italian Community was indirectly subject to a war-tax. 
But though these Communities suffered the burthens of war like 
Rome, they did not like Rome profit by war. The Roman Trea- 
sury repaid taxes raised for the conduct of war. But such re- 
payment was confined to Romans. The soldiers of the Latin and 
Italian towns might obtain their share of booty; but their citi- 
zens at home had no hope of repayment. Moneys paid into the 
Roman T'reasury were applicable to Roman purposes only. The 
Italians, though they shared the danger and the expense, were 
not allowed to share the profit. Here was a fertile field for dis- 
content, which afterwards bore fatal fruits. 

In the Hannibalic War Italians, as well as Romans, were 
fighting for house and home ; and if, in the last years, the 
genius of Scipio enriched the Treasury by conquest, the Italians 
Avere too thankful for deliverance from the invader to think 
of claiming equality with Rome. But in the wars which fol- 
lowed, when their citizens were carried beyond seas and detained 
for years far from home, when their blood and treasure, poured 
out as profusely as the blood and treasure of Roman citizens, 
only served to bring glory and profit to Rome, it is less won- 
derful that disaftection should have arisen, than that it should 
have been delayed so long. It was more than a century from 
the close of the Hannibalic War before the Italians in arms 

* Says Livy (xxxix. 7) "A decree was made that from the moneys paid 
into the Treasury after the triumph (of 187 B.C.), repayment should be made 
of that portion of the soldiers' pay contributed by the people which had not 
■been repaid already." 



Chap. XXXYI. MODE OF COLLECTINa TAXES. 393 

demanded to be placed on an equal footing witli the citizens of 
Rome. 

§ 12. In the Provinces, on the other hand, little military service 
was required ; but direct imposts were levied instead. 

This system Avas itself galling and onerous. It was as if Eng- 
land Avere to defray the expenses of her own administration from 
the proceeds of a tax levied upon her Indian Empire. But the 
system was made much worse by the way in which the taxes were 
collected. This was done by contract. Every five years the taxes 
of the Provinces were put up to public auction ; and that company 
of contractors which outbade the rest would receive the contract. 
The Farmers of the Taxes, therefore, oft'ered to pay a certain 
sum to the Imperial Treasury for the right of collecting the taxes 
and imposts of Sicily, ga>e security for payment, and then made 
what profit they could out of the taxes collected. The members 
of these companies were called Publicani, and the Farmers-general, 
or chiefs of the companies, bore the name of Mancipes. It 
is manifest that this system oflered a premium on extortion ; for 
the more the tax-collectors could wring from the Provincials, the 
more they would have for themselves. The extortions incident 
to this system form a principal topic in the Provincial history of 
Rome. 

§ 13. If the Roman Governors had done their duty, it is pro- 
bable that the extortions of the Tax-gatherers might have been 
prevented, or limited within a narrow circle. The system of Pro- 
vincial governments, as above stated, sounds fair. Local indepen- 
dence, subject to the general control of a central authority, is the 
ideal of government. But, unfortunately, the fairness of the sys- 
tem was more in the sound than the reality. The Proconsuls and 
Praetors exercised an authority virtually despotic. They were Sena- 
tors, and were responsible to the Senate alone. It may too surely 
be anticipafed what degree of severity a close corporation, like the 
Senate, would exercise towards its own members in times when 
communication with the Provinces was uncertain and difficult, 
when no one cared for the fate of foreigners, when there was no 
press to give tongue to public opinion, and, indeed, no force of 
public opinion at all. Very soon, the Senatorial Proconsuls found 
it their interests to support the tax-gatherers in their extortions, 
on condition of sharing in the plunder ; and one party played into 
the hand of the other. Thus, the Provincial government of the 
Republic became in practice an organised system of oppression, 
calculated to enrich fortunate Senators, and to^ provide them with 
the means of buying the suffrages of the people or of discharging 
the debts incurred in buying them. The name of Proconsul be- 
came identified with tyranny and greed. 

IV* 




Eemains of Aqueduct at Eome. 



CHAPTER 



XXXVII 



SOCIAL AND INTELLECTUAL CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. 
MANNERS BELIGION LITERATURE ART. 

1. The Third Century before Christ the Golden Age of Eome. § 2. The 
Towns chiefly peopled by the Nobles and their dependents: § 3. the 
Country by the Yeomen : their condition in these times. ^ 4. Excess of 
population relieved by Home Colonies. § 5. Increase in the number of 
Slaves by conquest: their social condition. § 6. Common practice of 
setting Slaves free. § 1. Condition of the Freedmen: Eustic and Civic 
Tribes. § 8. FamUy life of Eomans : Marriage : paternal authority. § 9. 
Eeligion: its influence on morality. § 10. Superstitious practices. § 11. 
No faith or humanity towards Foreigners. § 12. The Language of 
Eome quite formed after First Punic War : versification. § 13. Native 
Literature of Eome Hellenized by the conquest of Magna Grsecia. § 14. 
M. Livus Andronicus the first Hellenizing writer. § 15. Cn. Nsevius: 
his opposition to Hellenism. § 16. Q. Ennius secures the ascendency of 
Hellenizing Literature. § 1*7. Prose Writers. § 18. Early specunens of 
Eoman Art: due to the G-rseco-Etruscan artists. §19. Pure Greek Art 
introduced after conquest of Magna Grsecia. § 20. Slow progress in the 
mechanical Arts. § 21. Eudeness of houses, agriculture, &c. § 22. 



Chap. XXXVII. GOLDEN AGE OF EOMB. 395 

Architecture : greatness of the Romans as engineers and builders. § 23. 
Use of the Arch. § 24. Attention to sanatory rules at Rome. § 25. 
Tunnels. § 26. Conclusion with respect to Roman Character. 

§ 1. The age of which we have been treating, from the Samnite 
War to the close of the Punic Wars, was always considered by the 
Romans, and is still considered by their admirers, to have been 
the golden age of the Republic. There is a tendency in every 
nation to look back with fond regret to the " good old times." 
Frenchmen, after all their revolutions, still love the gallantry 
and popular sympathies of their Fourth Henry; and English- 
men, perhaps with better reason, are still proud of the age of 
" good Queen Bess." Modern historians have laboured to dispel 
illusions, by holding up a dark picture of the social condition of 
such times, and by contrasting the comforts and luxuries which 
■we enjoy with the rudeness and filth in which former generations 
were content to live. Reasonings of this kind are more appli- 
cable to people dwelling in a climate like our own than to those 
who live under the sky of Italy. In Italy, so great a part of 
life is spent in the open air, that many of our comforts or 
necessaries are to her people superfluous. On the other hand, 
in many countries and ages which we call uncivilised, there is 
found a genuine simplicity of thought and manners, which 
give them some unquestionable advantages. This simplicity, 
which Horace, no depredator of cultivated life, found and loved 
in his Sabine valley, when Rome was in the depth of corruption, 
still lingers in retired parts of Italy, and was at that time to be 
found within sight of the walls of Rome. A people which handed 
down the legends of Cincinnatus, Curius, Fabricius, Regulus, can 
hardly not have practised the thrift and honesty which they 
admired. The characters are no doubt idealised ; but they may 
be taken as types of their times. In the Roman country dis- 
tricts, and still more in the Apennine valleys, the habits of life 
were no doubt simple, honest, and perhaps rude, of Sabine rather 
than of Hellenic character, the life of countrymen rather than of 
dwellers in the town 

§ 2. It has been remarked that the Italians, like the Greeks, 
must be regarded as members of Cities or Civic Communities. 
But the walled towns which were the centres of each com- 
munity were mostly the residence of the chief men and their 
dependents and slaves, while the mass of the free citizens were 
dispersed over, the adjoining country district, dwelling on their 
own farms, and resorting to the town only to bring their produce 
to market or to take their part in the political business transacted 
at the general assemblies. Such was the case at Rome in early 



396 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. 

times. The great patrician lords with their families dwelt in 
strong houses or castles on the Capitoline, Palatine, and Quirinal 
Hills, while their clients thronged the lower parts adjacent. As 
the Plebeians increased in wealth and power, their great men 
established themselves at first upon the Cselian and Aventine, 
and afterwards indiscriminately on all the Hills. We may judge 
of the importance attached to these castle-like mansions by the 
fact, that when a man became too powerful or incurred the 
suspicion of the ruling party, one chief part of his punishment 
was that his house should be levelled with the ground. Such 
was the sentence laid upon the popular leaders Sp. Mselius and 
M. Manlius by the aristocratic Tribunals. And this was the 
reason which induced Valerius Publicola to avert jealousy by 
shifting the situation of his new house from the Velian ridge to 
lower ground. Suspicion prevailed on both sides. The Pa- 
tricians could not brook to see fortresses in the hands of popular 
leaders ; the Plebeians dreaded the Patrician mansions as the 
strongholds of oppression, and the prisons of unhappy debtors. 

§ 3. In the country districts of Rome the greater part of the 
land was still in the hands of small proprietors, who tilled their 
own lands by the aid of their sons and sons-in-law. In the 
earliest times the dimensions of these Plebeian holdings were 
incredibly small, — an allotment being computed at not more than 
2 jugera (about 1^ acres). Even with very fertile soil and unre- 
mitting labour, such a piece of land could barely maintain a 
family. But to eke out the produce of their tilled lands, every 
free citizen had a right to feed a certain number of cattle on the 
common pastures at the expense of a small payment to the 
State ; and in this way even a large family might live in rude 
abundance. In no long time, however, the plebeian allotments 
were increased to Y jugera (about 4| acres) ; and this increase of 
tilled lands indicates a corresponding improvement in the habits 
and comforts of the people,- — an improvement attributed, as all 
benefits conferred on the Plebeians in early times were attributed, 
to King Servius. And this long remained the normal size of the 
small properties then so common in the Roman district.* 

As long as the border wars with the ^quians and Volscians 
lasted, tillage must have been constantly interrupted. The yeo- 
manry of the Roman district must have been much in the 
condition of the English and Scottish borderers a century ago ; 
their hands must have been as well used to the sword and 
spear as to the spade or hoe. And even when war was re- 
moved to a distance from Rome, the farmer and his sons must 

* See Chapt. xxv. § 2. 



Chap. XXXVn. PROSPERITY AFTER SAMNITB WARS. 397 

have been often summoned from their field labours to serve in the 
militia called out for service in the year. Yet the inconvenience 
cannot have been great. The allotments were still small : the 
severe labours of digging or ploughing "were over before the 
year's campaign opened : and the lighter toils of hoeing and 
weeding, and even of reaping, could be performed by the sturdy 
"wife and boys "whom the soldier left behind ; or, if the sons "were 
ripening to manhood, one of them would take the place of the 
good man in the legions. The cattle on the public pastures 
only needed a boy to drive them afield and bring them home. 
In the times that followed the Samnite Wars, it may be assumed 
that the Romans and Italians generally enjoyed a condition of 
great material prosperity. The farm and public pasture pro- 
duced all that the family required, — not only food, but flax and 
wool, which the matron and her daughters dressed and spun and 
wove, wood and stone for building and farm implements, every- 
thing except metals and salt, which were (as we have seen) state 
monopolies. 

§ 4. But a golden age generally comes to an end with increase 
of population. Mouths to be fed multiply ; the yeomen sell 
their little farms and emigrate, or become satisfied with a lower 
scale of living as hired labourers. The Swiss have long poured a 
tide of emigrants into various parts of the world. The French 
are beginning to feel the evil of excessive division of land. But 
the Romans had a remedy for these evils in a home colonisation. 
The immense quantity of public land in the hands of the State, 
with the necessity of securing newly-conquered districts of Italy, 
led to the foundation of numerous Colonies between the Samnite 
and Punic Wars, and extended the means of material wellbeing to 
every one who was willing and able to work ; and this not only 
for Romans, but for Latins and others who were invited to 
become citizens of the colony. 

§ 5. If, however, the superfluous sons of families settled on 
lands in Samnium, or Apulia, or Cisalpine Gaul, others must have 
lost these lands ; and the question naturally occurs, — What had 
become of these people ? This question brings us to the worst 
point in ancient society, — that is, Slavery. 

It was the -practice of ancient nations to regard all conquered 
persons as completely in the light of booty as cattle or lifeless 
goods. If indeed the enemy surrendered without a blow, they 
became subjects. But those who were taken after a struggle 
were for the most part sold into slavery. Barbarians were con- 
sidered even by philosophers as only created to be slaves to 
civilised people. 

In early times this evil was small. Nor was it to be expected 



398 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. 

that the small proprietors could afford either to buy or to main- 
tain slaves. They were acquired by the rich Patricians and 
Plebeians, who held large tracts of public land, or who had 
acquired large estates of their own. Before the Decemvirate, 
their debtors were their slaves. But this custom had been long 
abolished, and it was conquest which supplied slaves to the rich. 
After the conquest of Samnium, 36,000 persons are said to have 
been sold. After the reduction of Cisalpine Gaul and Sicily, still 
larger numbers were brought to the hammer. These Avere the 
wretches on whose lands the poorer sort of Roman citizens 
settled. The slaves may generally be divided into two great 
classes, the Urban or City Slaves, and those of the Country. 
They had no civil rights; they could not contract legal marriage; 
they had no power over their own children; they could hold no pro- 
perty in their own name ; their very savings were not their own, 
but held by consent of their master;* all law proceedings ran in 
the name of their masters. For crimes committed, they were 
tried by the public courts; and the masters were held liable for 
the damage done, but only to the extent of the slave's value. 
To kill, maim, or maltreat a slave, was considered as damage to 
his master, and could only be treated as such. No pain or 
suffering inflicted on a slave was punishable, unless loss had 
thereby accrued to the owner. 

But human nature is too strong always to fulfil conditions so 
cruel. There is no doubt that the slaves of the household were 
often treated with kindness ; often they became the confidential 
advisers of their masters. The steward or bailiff of a rich man's 
estate, his VilUcus, was a person of considerable power. Still 
the mass of the slaves, especially the agricultural slaves, were 
treated as mere cattle. Some poor drudges were the slaves of 
other slaves, such ownership being allowed by the masters. 
Cato recommends to sell off old and infirm slaves, so as to save 
the expense of keeping live lumber. Englishmen feel a pang 
at seeing a fine horse consigned in his old age to the drivers 
of public carriages; but Romans wasted no such sympathy 
on slaves who had spent their lives and strength in culti- 
vating their lands. Notwithstanding the better treatment of 
^the house-slaves, the humane Cicero reproached himself with 
feeling too much sorrow for one who had been for years his 
tried and faithful servant. It was in the next half-century, 
however, that slaves increased so much in Italy as to produce 
great effect upon the social condition of the people. At present 
the evil was only in its beginning. 

* PecuUum (i. e. pecuniolum) was the Dame of such savings. 



GuAP. XXXVII. SLAVES AND PRBBDMBN. 399 

§ 6. Here it must be remarked that, in the times of the Re- 
public, the practice of giving liberty to slaves was very common. 
Whether it was that the Romans made the discovery that slave- 
labour is less profitable than the labour of free men working for 
wages, it is certain that Freedmen became so numerous that 
restrictions were placed upon manumission by law. The pros- 
pect of freedom as a reward for good conduct must have done 
much to prevent Roman bondsmen from sinking into that state 
of animal contentment and listless indifference which marks the 
negro slaves of our own times. 

§ 7. We have seen that, before the close of the Samnite Wars, 
the proud Patrician, App. Claudius, had conceived the plan of 
forming out of the Freedmen a political body devoted to himself,* 
and that his scheme was frustrated by the succeeding Censors, 
Fabius and Decius, who threw them into the Four City Tribes, 
so that after the Tribes had reached their highest number of 
Thu-ty-five (in 241 e.g.), the votes of the Freedmen only availed 
in the proportion of four to thirty-one. 

These Freedmen, however, filled no mean space in Roman 
society. Among them were to be found able and well-educated 
men, who had held a high station in their native country, and 
often obtained great influence over the minds of their masters. 
Freedmen exercised most branches of retail trade, and formed 
the shopkeepers and petty traders and artizans of Rome : for 
Roman citizens, however poor, could in early times condescend 
to no business except that of agriculture. Rich men carried on 
trades by means of their slaves and freedraen ; in later times 
Freedmen often worked as artists under some Patrician roof, and 
many of the early poets were Freedmen. 

Here then we trace the beginning of a great distinction, that 
afterwards was more strongly marked, between the population 
of the city and the population of the country, — between the 
Rustic and the Civic Tribes. 

§ 8. At the time of which we write, a patriarchal rule prevailed 
in the family. In early ages the refusal of the Patricians to 
recognise any right of legal marriage between themselves and the 
Plebeians must have frequently led to illicit connexions. • But 
this unnatural severance between the Orders was the first to give 
way; and after the Canuleian Law, the simple marriage-rite of 
the Plebeians was held equally binding upon all as the more 
solemn vows of the Patrician form.f It is a noteworthy fact, 

* Chapt. xxiv. § 6-15. 

\ If two Plebeians lived together for a year, this was enough to constitute 
Matrimonium. But the union of Patricians required certain religious rites, 
called Confarreatio. 



400 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. 

that Sp. Carvilius was the first person who put away his wife, 
and that the first example of divorce occurs as late as the year 
231 B.C. This observance of marriage as a sacred bond is striking. 
From it was derived the pure and lofty character of the ancient 
Eoman Matron. At Rome it was not by clever and fascinating 
courtesans, such as Aspasia and Thais, but by wives and mothers, 
such as Lucretia and Volumnia of the legends, such as Cornelia 
the mother of the Gracchi in actual history, that noble wishes 
and heroic thoughts were inspired into the hearts of the men. 
The chastity and frugality of the women found an answer in the 
temperance and self-devotion of the men. This is the more 
remarkable, since by the Eoman law married women had no 
personal rights : they were subject to their husbands as absolutely 
as if they had been slaves. 

The same patriarchal power belonged to the father over his 
children, unless he thought fit to emancipate them, a process 
which was conducted with the same forms as the manumission 
of a slave. It was a terrible power ; yet we seldom hear of its 
being abused. Such a system no doubt prevented all gentleness 
of filial love. The old Romans had but one word — pietas — to ex- 
press the veneration due from children to parents and from men 
to gods. But the sterner exercise of parental authority, with the 
general purity of morals, preserved youth from that wild intem- 
perance, both of action and thought, which has often injured 
nations. It is impossible to read without admiration Cicero's 
description of the house of old Appius the Censor. " Blind and 
old as he was, he held dominion over four strong sons, . five 
daughters, and a crowd of clients. His mind was always ready 
strung, like a bow : nor did he give way to the feebleness of age. 
He ruled his dependents with sovereign power, feared by his 
slaves, respected by his children, beloved by all. Such, in his 
house, was the power of ancient custom and ancient discipline." 
If this could be said of the house of Appius, how much more 
shall we believe it of Fabius and Decius, of Curius and Fabricius ! 

But if in his own house the father was sovereign, the son 
when invested with the power of the State was not only allowed, 
but expected, to act as if there were no relation between them. 
All must remember the story of old Fabius Cunctator, . who 
rode into the camp of the Consul, his son, and was overjoyed at 
receiving a stern rebuke for his apparent want of deference to the 
representative of the Senate and People of Rome. 

§ 9. There can be little doubt that the simple morality of the 
times, maintained by habitual deference to authority, was con- 
firmed by the higher sanction of Religion. 

The Religion of Rome was, as the legends show, of Sabine 



Chap. XXXVH. RELIGION OP ROME. 401 

origin, niucli of its ceremonial, tlie names of many of its gods, 
were Etruscan : and Hellenic mythology began, at an early time, 
to mingle itself in tlie simple religious faith of the Sabine 
countrymen. The important question in the history of all reli- 
gions, is ho-w far they exert power over the lives of their pro- 
fessors. That the old faith of Rome was not without such 
power in the times of which we speak is unquestionable. The 
simple Roman husbandman lived and died, like his Sabine ances- 
tors, in the fear of the gods ; he believed that there was some- 
thing in the universe higher and better than himself; that by 
these higher powers his life and actions were watched ; that to 
these powers good deeds and an honest life were pleasing, evil 
deeds and bad faith hateful. Many modern historians represent 
Roman Religion as but a piece of statecraft, devised to make the 
people more easy to be led. But the cases quoted prove the con- 
trary. Papirius Cursor the younger spoke like a rough humour- 
ist, but not irreverently, when he vowed the cup of honied wine to 
Jove. Regulus and Claudius, when they neglected the omens in 
the first Punic War, shocked all men. Scipio won his early pop- 
ularity in a great measure by his religious fervour. And the 
weighty testimony of Polybius, delivered with reference to a later 
and more corrupt age, proves the conclusion. " If," says he, " you 
lend a single talent to a Greek, binding him by all possible securi- 
ties, yet he will break faith. But Roman magistrates, accustomed 
to have immense sums of money pass through their hands, are 
restrained from fi'aud simply by respect for the sanctity of an 
oath." If this was true in the days of Cato and the younger Scipio, 
how much more so in those of Fabius and Africanus, of Regulus, 
Fabricius, and Curius ! 

The Religion of Rome was wholly subject to the State. It 
had no clergy set apart and paid by special funds. The Pontiffs, 
Augurs, and Flamens, indeed, at this time formed close corpo- 
rations, which their own vacancies filled up, like the fellows 
of a college ; but in later times they were elected at the Comitia, 
in the same manner, though by a different rule, as the officers of 
state. 

§ 10. No doubt, in Cicero's time, educated persons looked with 
contempt on the Roman ceremonial, with its omens and its 
auguries. At that time, formalism had taken the place of reli- 
gion ; but, at that time, morality also was little respected at Rome. 
No doubt, also, the Religion of Rome lent countenance to gross 
superstition and inhuman practices. The ominous circumstances 
constantly recorded by Livy, of oxen speaking, of stones falling 
like rain, show the former ; and for the latter, we are shocked to 
read that two Greeks and two Gauls, one of each sex, were buried 



402 ROME AND CARTHAGE. BOOK IV. 

alive in tlie Forum on two different occasions, because it was fore- 
told in the Sibylline Books that these people should at some time 
occupy the soil of that famous place ; and that human sacrifices 
were occasionally offered — once even in the time of the Dictator 
Caesar — though they had been abolished by a special edict more 
than a century before. But these horrors may, as the mention 
of the Sibylline Books shows, be referred rather to Etruscan 
formularies than to the old Sabine religion of Eome. Nor ought 
those to be too forward in censuring the senseless modes adopted 
by heathen nations, in times of darkness and danger, to ascertain 
the will or avert the wrath of the gods, who remember what a 
history of superstitious practices and inhuman cruelties might 
be drawn up from the Annals of Christianity itself. The main 
point is, and this is indisputable, that the old Romans were in 
.fact more pure in morals, more honest, more self-denying than 
their neighbours ; and we have found a clear-sighted Greek ac- 
counting for the difference by their stronger sense of the obliga- 
tions of religion. 

§ 11. But while morality, good faith, and self-denial prevailed 
among themselves, it is clear that the Romans laid no such re- 
strictions upon their dealings with other nations. This great 
defect is common to Rome with all antiquity. The calmest Greek 
philosopher, Aristotle, regarded barbarians as naturally the slaves 
of Greeks. International Law was unknown, except in certain 
formalities observed in declaring war and making peace, and in 
the respect paid to the persons of Ambassadors. This absence of 
common humanity and generosity to foreigners appears in many 
pages of this History, in none more strongly than in that which 
records the treatment of the Samnite leader C. Pontius. Gleams 
of better feeling appear in the war with Pyrrhus : the chivalric 
character of the King awakened something of a kindred spirit 
in the stern and rigid Romans. But nothing could be more 
ungenerous than the conduct of Rome to Carthage, after the 
Mercenary War : and still baser pieces of diplomacy occur in the 
subsequent dealings of the Senate with the Achseans and with 
Carthage. 

§ 12. We have now to speak of the intellectual condition of the 
people. 

In the period between the conquest of Italy and the close of 
the First Punic War a great change had taken place in the lan- 
guage of the Romans. The heterogeneous compound of Pelas- 
gian, Oscan, and Sabine elements* had already been moulded 

* Introduction, Sect. ii. § 13. 



Chlajp. XXXYII. change IN THE LATIN LANGUAGE. 403 

into a clear, uniform, and nervous instrument of thought. The 
oldest specimen extant of the Latin tongue is a Hymn of the Fra- 
tres Arvales, a rural priesthood, who used to go round the fields in 
spring, praying the earth to yield her increase. Its language is as 
different from the Latin of Horace as the English of Wiclifl's Bible 
is from that of Dryden.* Its antiquated forms recur in Inscriptions 
and Laws down to a late period ; for the Romans, like ourselves, 
did not easily relinquish old forms. But fragments remain, which 
were written between the First and Second Punic Wars; and these, 
if the ancient forms of spelling are altered, exhibit Latin in its com- 
plete form. 

A change also had taken place in the versification. The metre 
of the ancient Hymn just quoted is Saturnian, a kind of verse 
which much resembled our own ballad-metre, being regulated by 
accent or cadence solely, without regard to the laws of quantity so 
strictly observed by all Greek and by later Latin Avriters.f But at 
the time of the Punic Wars we find the forms of Greek metres 
already established. 

§ 13. The revolution here indicated is no doubt due to the 
Hellenic influences Avhich began to prevail at Rome after the 
conquest of Lower Italy and Sicily. If the compound structure 
of Latin may be compared to that of our own tongue, its destiny 
has been far different. While English can boast of a more vig- 
orous native literature than any language, except Greek, Latin 
is perhaps of all the most destitute of originality. The germs 
of a rude literature existed in the ancient Lays, of which we have 
spoken in our 16th chapter. The Romans, also, from the earliest 
times, seem to have been fond of dramatic representations. The 
Atellane Fables or Exodla of the Oscan tribes were a kind of 
pantomimic performance, which perhaps still survives in the 
Policinello of modern Italy. They were kept up to a late time 
even at Rome, and were extemporaneous pieces, in which it was 
* Here it is, with a modem version : — 

Enos, Lase, juvate ! 

Neve luerve, Marmar, sins incurrer in pleores. 

Satiir fiifere, Mars ; limen sali sta, Berber. 

Semunes alternei innocapit cunctos. 

Enos, Marmar, juvato ! Triumpe, Triumpe ! 

Nbs, Lares, juvate ! 

Neve luem, Manners, sinas incurrere inflores. 

Satur fueris, Mars ; pestem {?.0L/udv) maris siste, Mavors. 

Semi-homines (demigods) alterni invocaie cunctos. 

Nbs, Maviers, juvato ! Triumphe, Triumphe! 
f Examples of the Latin Saturnium occm* below in § 15. As an English 
example, take this: 

Go fetch my sword Excalibar, Go saddle me my steed, 

Now, by my faye, that grim baron Shall rue this nithful deed. 



404 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. 

not disgraceful for the noblest youths to play a part. The Fes- 
cennine verses were no doubt the original of the only kind of 
literature which the Romans claim as their own, — that is, the 
Satura or Satire, a lively and caustic criticism of the foibles and 
follies of the day. Dramatic exhibitions are said to have been 
first borrowed from the Etruscans in the year 363 B.C., when a 
pestilence was raging at Rome ; but at this time the drama was 
a mere name, — the story being told by means of dancing and 
gesticulation, with music, but without words. The Roman drama, 
such as we know it, was not so much borrowed or imitated 
as translated from the Greek originals. It arose in the period 
of tranquillity after the First Punic War, when the Temple 
of Janus was shut for a brief period. The vast increase of terri- 
tory and wealth which the Romans had lately won was of itself 
sufficient to give a stimulus to intellectual exertion as great as the 
Athenians received from their triumphs over the Persians. But 
in the conquered cities of Tarentum and Syracuse the Romans 
found a literature of unrivalled excellence, and it was not their na- 
ture to pursue with labour what they could adopt ready made. 
From this time dates the growth of the Grseco-Roman literature. 
In the well-known v/ords of Horace, " captive Greece took captive 
her rude conqueror." 

§ 14. The first author of whom we hear as presenting a finished 
drama to a Roman audience was a Greek named Andronicus. 
He was taken prisoner at the capture of Tarentum in 2*72 B.C., 
and became the slave of M. Livius Salinator. Afterwards he was 
set free, when (according to custom) he adopted the two first 
names of his late master, adding his own name as a family appel- 
lation. Thus he became known as IVf. Livius Andronicus. His 
first piece was represented about thirty years later, in which 
time he had mastered Latin completely, and added to it the 
polish of his native Greek. His plays continued to be read in 
the times of Cicero and Horace ; and though these authors speak 
of them with little respect, the fact that they were used as a 
text-book for boys at the school of Orbilius, when Horace him- 
self was there, shows that they must have been written in a clear 
and grammatical style. Their titles — ^gisthus, Ajax, Helena, 
and the like — sufiiciently show from what source they were bor- 
rowed. 

§ 15. A brave stand against the new Hellenizing fashion was 
made by Cn. Nsevius, a Campanian by birth. His name shows 
that he was not a Greek : the fact that he served in the Roman 
armies during the First Punic "War proves that he was a free 
citizen. In his earlier days he followed the example set by An- 
dronicus, so far as to translate Greek Dramas. The names pre- 



Chap. XXXVII. LITERATURE AETER FIRST PUNIC WAR. 405 

served show that, among the masters of Attic Tragedy, Euripides 
Avas his favourite. Nsevius, however, was of comic rather than of 
tragic vein, and he maintained the licence of the old Fescennine 
songs in attacking the foibles of the great men of his day. He 
lampooned the conqueror of Hannibal for licentious practices 
in early youth. Scipio laughed at the libel. But soon after 
the poet ventured to assail the powerful family of the Metelli, 
saying that 

Pato Metelli fiunt Romse Consules. 
(The Metelli gain their honours not by merit, but by destiny.) 

The Metelli, or their family bard, retorted in Saturnian verse : 
Et NaBvio poetse, quum ssepe Isederentur, 

Dabunt malum Metelli, dabunt malum Metelli. 

And they Avere as good as their word. He was thrown into 
prison, and remained there long enough to compose two come- 
dies. He was set free by a Tribune on condition of his abstaining 
from personal libels. But he could not refrain from fresh attacks 
on the Senatorial nobility, which at the close of the Second Punic 
War had become so powerful ; and he was obliged to flee to Utica, 
where he died about 203 b.c. He employed his latter days in the 
work which made his name most famous, namely, in a sort of Epic 
Poem on the First Punic War, with accounts of early Roman his- 
tory introduced. 

In narrative or epic poetry Greek thought and metre had not 
yet established themselves. Even Livius, when he traiislated the 
Odyssey, kept to the old Saturnian verse, and Nsevius of course 
did likewise. His poem no doubt incorporated the ancient Lays. 
It was written in forcible language and lively imagery. Cicero de- 
clared that he derived from it a pleasure as great as from the con- 
templation of Mycon's finest statues. Many of the mythological 
incidents were borrowed by Ennius and Virgil. The loss of this 
poem of Naevius may be considered as the greatest loss which Latin 
literature has sustained.* 

The bold and independent character of Nsevius appears from the' 
epitaph he composed for himself. It is in Saturnian verse, and 
mournfully complains of the predominance which Greeks were 
daily gaining over the ancient Latin poetry : 

Mortales immortales flere si foret fas, 

Flerent Divee Camense Nsevium poetam. 

Itaque, postquam est Orcino traditus thesauro, 
Obhtei sunt Romse loqui- er Latina lingua. 

§ 16. But at the very time when Nsevius, with the ardour of 

* "Wliat Scaliger said of Ennius would be more justly said of Nsevius : 
" Utinam hunc haberemus integrum, et amississemus Lucanum, Silium ItaU- 
cum, et tous ces gargons Id, .'" 



406 ROME AND CARTHAGE. BOOK IV. 

youth, was beginning first to imitate and tlien to oppose the Greek 
models introduced by Livius Andronicus, was born the man who 
fixed the Greek metres and forms of poetry irrevocably in Latin 
usage, and crushed for ever the old Roman Lays. This was Q. 
Ennius, a native of Rudiae in Campania, an Oscan probably by 
blood, a Greek by education, whose birth-year is fixed at 238 b.c. 
In early youth he settled, we know not why, in Sardinia, and from 
this island he was brought to Rome by Cato in 204, when he was 
now in his thirty-fifth year, just before the death of Nsevius. Here 
he settled in a small house on the Aventine, and earned a frugal 
living for fourteen years by teaching Greek to the young nobles. 
In this period he must have acquired that mastery over the Latin 
tongue which is so plainly marked in the fragments of his poems 
which remain. He died in the year before the battle of Pydna 
(168) at the age of seventy. In his later years he suffered both from 
poverty and disease, which he bore with fortitude ; the disease was 
caused by his too great fondness for jovial living. He fulfilled the 
forebodings of Nsevius : after him the Camente, or Latin Muses, 
forgot their descent, and strove in all things to be Greek. The 
epitaph he wrote, to be placed under his bust, marks consciousness 
of his triumph : 

Aspicite, o cives, senis Enni imagini' formam : 

Hie vestriim panxit maxuma facta patrum. 
Nemo me lacrumis decoret, nee funera fletu 

Paxit. Cur ? Volito vivu! per ora virClm. 

As his works belong entirely to the age which forms the subject 
of the next Book, we will reserve our notice of them. 

§ 17. The first writers of Latin prose were the Chroniclers Q. 
Fabius Pictor and L. Cincius Alimentus, who were both in their 
manhood before the invasion of Hannibal. Fabius served in the 
Gallic War of 225, rose to be a senator, and was sent on an em- 
bassy to consult the Delphic Oracle after the disaster of Cannae. 
Cincius was somewhat younger ; he also became a senator. At 
one time he fell into the hands of Hannibal, and some of his state- 
ments with regard to the war were derived from the lips of the 
great Carthaginian himself. The principal matter treated of by 
both these writers was that which then absorbed all interest; they 
wrote Chronicles of the Second Punic War ; and both of them 
prefixed a summary of early Roman History. Cincius seems to 
have been the most trustworthy : family partialities often misled 
Fabius. It is particularly to be noted that they both wrote in 
Greek, which seems then to have established itself as the language 
of the learned, just as Latin was used by all European writers 
during the Middle Ages. 

§ 18. If Hellenic forms of thought and speech invaded the do- 



Chap. XXXVIL GRiECO-ETRUSCAN ART AT ROME. 407 

main of Literature, much more was this the case with the Arts 
of Design. There are not wanting examples to show that before 
this time Sculpture and Painting were held in honour at Rome. 
The Consul Carvilius (in 293 b.c.) employed part of the spoils 
taken from the Samnites in setting up a colossal bronze statue 
on the Capitoline. A Quadriga, executed in terra cotta by an 
Etruscan artist, is ascribed to the same date. Statues were erected 
in the Forum to honour divers great men of olden time. Many 
temples were built in thanksgiving for victories, most of which 
were adorned by Etruscan or Greek artists. The Temple of Salus 
was ornamented about 305 B.C. by paintings from the hand of C. 
Fabius, who thenceforward adopted the name of Pictor and trans- 
mitted it as an honour to his family. The Ogulnii, in their 
JEdileship (296 b.c.) set up in the Capitol a bronze group repre- 
senting the Wolf suckling the Twins. A painting of the battle 
in which the Eomans defeated Hiero in 263 adorned the walls of 
the Senate-House. 

Of these works, and others not recorded by history, no trace 
remains except the famous Wolf now preserved in the Capitoline 
Museum.* The Twins are a later addition, but the animal is 
probably the original work noticed by Cicero and Livy. It 
bears the well-known marks of the archaic Greek art in the 
sharp, rigid forms of the limbs and muscles, the peculiar ex- 
pression of the face, and the regular knots of Lair about the 
neck and head. Here, then, we trace Hellenic artists at Rome. 
Others of the works mentioned are expressly assigned to Etrus- 
can artists, and it may be remarked that Fabius, the only native 
artist of whom we hear, belonged to a family always associated in 
history with Etruscans.f 

Now the Art of the Etruscans was probably much modified 
by Greek artists and Greek models at an early period. Their 
tombs, we are told, are always national in character, but their 
painted vases are Hellenic, not only in shape and pattern, but in 
the mythical subjects with which they are decorated. Indeed, 
when the vases discovered in the old Etruscan city of Yulci — a 
city of which history preserves no trace — are placed by the side 
of others known to be of Hellenic workmanship, it is only a 
practised eye that can detect the distinguishing characteristics 
of each.J Many of the Etruscan works of art bear a striking 
resemblance to the archaic forms of Greek art. Even the ancient 

* See woodcut to Chapt. i. 

\ The settlement of the Fabii on the Cremera shows this. When the great 
FalDius first crossed the Cimuaian Hills, he sent his brotlher to explore, be- 
cause he could speak Etruscan. See Chapt. xxii. § 13. 

X See Dennis's Etruria, vol. i. p. 425. 



408 EOME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV: 

style of building called Cyclopean appears to have been as much 
Etruscan as Pelasgian or Hellenic. It may be assumed, then, that 
the earliest school of Roman art was derived from the Greeks 
through the medium of Etruscan artists. 

§ 19. But when Rome had conquered Southern Italy, she was 
brought at once in contact with works of the finest Greek art. 
No coins of old Greece are so beautiful as those of her colonial 
settlements in the West ; and it is in the coins of Rome that we 
first trace the indisputable effect of Greek art. 

Up to the time when Italy was conquered, the Romans had 
used only copper money of a most clumsy and inconvenient 
kind. A pound of this metal by weight was stamped with the 
rude efiigy of a ship's prow, and this was the original As or 
Libra. Gradually the As was reduced in weight till, in the 
necessities of the Second Punic War, it became only l-6th of 
the Libra by weight ; yet it retained its ancient name, just as 
our pound sterling of silver, originally equivalent to a pound 
Troy-weight, is now not more than l-3rd, or as the French livre 
is not above l-24th part of that weight.* But even this dimi- 
nished coin was clumsy for use, as trade increased with in- 
creasing empire. After the conquest of Southern Italy the 
precious metals became more plentiful, and the coinage of the 
conquered cities supplied beautiful models. The first denarius, or 
silver piece of ten ases, was struck in the year 269 b.c, and 
is evidently imitated from the coins of Magna Grsecia. The 
Roman Generals who commanded in these districts stamped 
money for the use of their armies with the old insignia of the 
conquered cities. The workmanship is, indeed, " inferior to the 
best specimens of Hellenic coins, but far superior to anything 
Roman, before or after. Gold coins of similar model were not 
struck till near the close of the Hannibalic War (205 b.c). The 
great mass of Roman coins which we possess belong to the last 
century of the Republic. They usually bear the family emblems 
of the person who presided over the mint, or of the Consuls for 
whose use they were struck, but the execution always remained 
rude and unattractive. 

Afterwards, Roman conquest gave the means of supplying 
works of art by the easier mode of appropriation. In the con- 
quest of Etruria, years before, the practice had been begun : 
from Volsinii alone we read that 2000 statues were brought to 
Rome. In following years Agrigentum, Syracuse, Corinth, and 
other famous cities, sent the finest works of Hellenic Art to 

* When the pound of weight ceased to be the same with the pound of cur- 
rency, the former was usually designated ces grave. 



Chap. XXXYII. PROGRESS IN THE ARTS. 409 

decorate tlie public buildings and public places of the barbarous 
City of the Tiber, or in many cases to ornament the villas of the 
rapacious generals. 

§ 20. In the more intellectual even of the Useful Arts the 
Eomans made no great progress. The contrivances of Archi- 
medes for the defence of Syracuse struck them Avith amazement. 
In Cicero's time they usually carried the sciences of Quantity and 
Magnitude no further than was necessary for practical arithmetic 
and mensuration. In 293 b.c. L. Papirius Oursor the younger 
set up a sun-dial at Rome, and thirty years later another was 
brought from Sicily by the Consul M. Valerius Messala ; but no 
one knew how to place them, so as to make the shadow of the 
gnomon an index of time. A water-clock, resembling our sand- 
glass, was not introduced till 159 B.C. 

§ 21. Nor were the common conveniences of life in an advanced 
state. Up to the year 264 the houses were commonly roofed 
with shingles of wood, like the Alpine cottages of our days ; then 
first earthen tiles began to supersede this rude material. Agri- 
culture must have been roughly carried on by men who were as 
much soldiers as countrymen. The wine of Latium was so bad 
that Cin^as, when he tasted it, said — and the witticism was re- 
membered — " he did not wonder that the mother of such wine was 
hung so high ;" alluding to the Italian custom, still retained, of 
training the vine up elms and poplars, while in Greece it was 
trained (as in France and Germany) on short poles and exposed to 
all the heat of the sun. 

§ 22. A form of architecture called the Tuscan was mostly 
used, which bore an imperfect resemblance to that early Greek 
style usually called the Doric. But the existing remains of the 
Republican period are too scanty to allow of any precise state- 
ments. The true Arts of Rome Avere, then and always, the Arts 
of the Builder and Engineer. It would not be wrong to call the 
Romans the greatest Builders in the world. Some of their 
mighty works, works combining solidity of structure with beauty 
of form and utility of purpose, still remain for our admiration, 
having survived the decay of ages and the more destructive 
hands of barbarian conquerors. In every country subject to 
their sway, roads and bridges and aqueducts remain in sutBcient 
number and perfection to justify all praise. We class the roads 
among the buildings, according to their own phraseology,'* and 
their construction deserves the name as justly as the works upon 
our own railways. The first great military road and the first 
aqueduct are due to the old Censor Appius Csecus, and they 

* Munire viam, was their phrase. 
18 



i^io ^ BOMB AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. 

both remain to preserve the memory of the man, often self- 
willed and presumptuous, but resolute, firm of purpose, noble in 
conception, and audacious in execution. Other aqueducts and 
other roads rapidly followed ; and the spade and trowel were as 
much the instruments of Roman dominion as the sword and spear. 
By the close of the Punic Wars solid roads, carried by the en- 
gineer's art over broad and rapid streams, through difficult moun- 
tain-passes, across quaking morasses, had already linked Rome with 
Capua in the South, with Placentia and Cremona in the North. 
Such were the proud monuments of the Appii, the -^milii, the 
Flaminii. 

§ 23. It may be said that these magnificent works, as well as 
the vast Amphitheatres and Baths which afterwards decorated 
Rome and every petty city in her provinces, were due to the in- 
vention of the Arch. This simple piece of mechanism, so wonder- 
ful in its results, first appears in the great Cloaca. It was unknown 
to the Greeks, or at least not used by them.* It may be that 
the Romans borrowed it from the Etruscans; the Cloaca is 
attributed to an Etruscan king, and similar works are discovered 
in ruined cities of Etruria.f But if they borrowed the principle 
they used it nobly, as witness the noble bridges still remaining, 
the copious streams carried over the plain for miles at the height 
of sixty or seventy feet from the level of the soil. If they had 
little feeling for beauty and delicacy in the use of the pencil or 
the chisel, their buildings are stamped with a greatness which ex- 
alted the power of the State while it disregarded the pleasure of 
the individual. 

§ 24, Their attention to practical utility in draining and water- 
ing their city is especially noted by Strabo in contrast with the 
indifi"erence shown by the Greeks in these matters. To the facts 
already stated may be added their rule, established so early as the 
year 260 b.c, that no one should be buried within the city, — a 
rule scarcely yet adopted in London, From this time dates the 
beginning of those rows of sepulchral monuments which the 
traveller beheld on either side of the road as he entered the 
Eternal City, It was a gloomy custom, but better at least than 
leaving graveyards in the heart of crowded cities. 

§ 25. A striking proof of engineering skill is shown in the 
tunnels cut through solid rock for the purpose of draining off 
volcanic lakes : this art we may also believe to have been ori- 
ginally borrowed from the Etruscans. The first tunnel of which 
we hear was that by which the Alban Lake was partially let ofi" 

* The arch is said to have been invented by Democritus, Posidon ap. Senec, 
Ep. 80. But it had long existed in Etruria. 
\ See Chapt. iii. § 11. 



Chap. XXXVII. PiJOGRESS IN THE ARTS. 411 

during tlie siege of Veii, a work "whicli was suggested by an 
Etruscan soothsayer.'* Other works of like kind still remain, 
though the time of their execution is not always known. Here 
shall be added the notice of one work of kindred sort, which 
happens by a rare coincidence to combine great utility with 
rarest beauty. The famous M' Curius Dentatus, when Censor 
in 272, cut a passage through the rock, by which the waters of 
Lake Velinus were precipitated into the Nar. By this means he 
recovered for his newly-conquered Sabine Clients a large portion 
of fertile land, and left behind the most lovely, if not the most 
sublime, of all waterfalls. The Falls of Terni, such is the famous 
name they now bear, were wrought by the hand of man. " Thou- 
sands of travellers visit them," says Niebuhr ; " how few know 
that they are not the work of Nature !" 

§ 26. It will be something gained if from these imperfect 
chapters the young student shall have learned to look upon the 
early Romans as they were — men of strong wills and rigid morals, 
who cared little for the elegancies of life, but much for its free- 
dom and order ; who scorned the credit to be derived from ori- 
ginality compared with the practical uses of an invention ; who 
were trained by education and discipline to rule themselves; 
and were thus carried on from conquest to conquest by an in- 
satiable desire to rule others. The Roman of this time has his 
own virtues — simplicity and good morals, joined indeed with 
roughness and want of feeling. In a later age he lost the virtues 
without losing the defects. The Roman, as we shall find him at 
the end of his career of conquest, without simplicity of man- 
ners and morality of life, corrupted by wealth and luxury, yet 
coarse and unfeeling as ever, is a being who does little honour to 
humanity. 

* See Chapt. xiii § 6, with the note. 




Coin of Ptolemy Philadelphus. 



BOOK V. 



EOME AND THE CONQUEST OF THE WOKLD. 

(B.C. 201—132.) 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

INTRODUCTORY : STATE OF THE EASTERN WORLD. 

§ 1. The East and "West. § 2. The East from the death of Alexander to the 
Battle of Ipsus. § 3. Egypt at the present time. § 4. Syria. § 5. Per- 
gamus. § 6. Ehodes. § '7. Macedon. § 8. Athens. § 9. Sparta. § 10. 
Commencement of the Achaean League: its rapid rise under Aratus: 
unable to conquer Sparta, he makes the League subject to Macedon. 
§ 11. The ^tolians. § 12. War between the ^tolians andAchseans: 
PhUip V. of Macedon assists the latter : his successes. § 13. His imagi- 
nation fired by the news of Trasimene and Cannse : Demetrius of Pharos : 
§ 14. Philip's treaty with Hannibal. ^ 

§ 1. So far, the countries round the Mediterranean had been 
divided, as it were, into two worlds, the Western and the 
Eastern : the Western, in which Rome and Carthage were strug- 
gling for mastery ; the Eastern, in which the Macedonian suc- 
cessors of Alexander the Great were wasting their strength in 
Avars. But from the moment that Philip V. of Macedon entered 
into alliance with Hannibal, the line of separation had been 
broken ; and Rome only waited her time to break in upon the 
enervated nations of the East. That time came when the battle 
of Zama had delivered her from the fear of Hannibal. 

§ 2. At the death of Alexander in 323 B.C., his vast Empire 
fell into distinct portions. The Generals of the Great King at 
first governed these provinces as Viceroys of Alexander's infant 
son. But this child was set aside ; and within twenty years of 



Chap. XXXVIII. STATE OF THE EASTERN WORLD. 41 3 

tlie King's death these Imperial Governors assumed the title of 
Sovereigns. Ptolemy became King of Egypt; Seleucus, of Baby- 
lonia and the East; Antigonus, with his son Demetrius, of 
Syria and Asia Minor; Lysimachus, of Thrace; Cassander, of 
Macedonia, with authority over the whole of Greece. 

Of these soldier- kings, the most ambitious of all were the 
Kings of Syria, Antigonus and Demetrius; and the year 305 b.c. 
saw the other sovereigns combined against these two. A general 
war followed; and in 301 b.c, the battle of Ipsus made a con- 
siderable change in these Macedonian monarchies. Seleucus 
became master of the greater part of Asia Minor and of northern 
Syria ; Phoenicia and Ccele-Syria fell into the hands of the King 
of Egypt. 

AVe must add a brief account of these kingdoms down to the 
period of the second Panic War. 

§ 3. Egypt enjoyed long tranquillity. In the course of the 
eighty years which followed the battle of Ipsus, the Kings of 
Egypt quietly extended their sway over parts of Arabia and 
Libya, as well as Lower Syria, and became Masters of Lycia and 
Caria, of Cyprus and the Cyclades. The flourishing Republic of 
Rhodes was their ally. Trade flourished ; art and literature 
reached a height unknown since the best days of Athens : the 
natural sciences were cultivated with unexampled success. 
Alexandria increased daily in wealth and population, and became 
(as its great founder intended) the chief seat of trade between 
the East and West. Yet this prosperity was not long-lived. 
The decline of the monarchy may be dated from the accession of 
the fourth Ptolemy, surnamed Philopator; and so rapid was it, 
that when he died, towards the close of the Second Punic War 
(205 B.C.), the ministers of his infant son Epiphanes were obliged 
to look around for some poweful patron to defend the inherit- 
ance of their master from the Kings of Macedon and Syria, who 
had impudently agreed to divide it between them. 

In the year 273 b.c, Philadelphus formed an alliance with 
Rome (chapt. xxiii. § 3) ; and her attitude of superiority after the 
struggle with Carthage attracted the notice of all the Mediter- 
ranean nations. The Senate, therefore, were requested to become 
guardians of the boy-king, and they accepted the office. 

§ 4. After the death of Seleucus, the monarchy of Syria fell into 
decay. His son, Antiochus I., shifted the seat of the monarchy 
from Babylon to his new city of Antiocheia (Antioch) on the 
Orontes, and thus the Eastern Provinces were left open to the 
inroads of the Parthians. Asia Minor was lost to the monarchy. 
The kings of Macedon gained a footing in Mysia and Ionia ; 
Caria and Lycia fell into the hands of the Egyptian sovereigns; 



414 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. BookY. 

Bitliynia, Cappadocia, and Pontus became independent princi- 
palities;' Northern Phrygia was occupied by hosts of vagrant 
Gauls, who gave name to the district called Galatia; a Greek 
eunuch, named Philetserus, Treasurer of Lysimachus, King of 
Thrace, gained possession of the city of Pergamus. He trans- 
mitted his principality to his nephew Eumenes, and Attains, 
another nephew, succeeding to Eumenes, took the title of King. 
Most of the Greek cities on the coast, with the islands of Lesbos, 
Chios, and Samos, became independent. Such was the con- 
dition of things in 223 b.c, when Antiochus III. ascended the 
throne, and turned his arms against the Parthians with so much 
success that he assumed the title of the Great. 

§ 5. Attains, King of Pergamus, saw his advantage in siding 
with Rome. Threatened by the King of Macedonia on the north, 
and by the King of Syria on the south, he at once threw himself 
into the arms of this powerful ally, and was of no small use to 
the Roman commanders. 

§ 6. The Republic of Rhodes rapidly recovered from the ter- 
rible siege which it had sustained from Demetrius Poliorcetes.* 
After Alexandria, Rhodes was the chief commercial place in 
the Eastern part of the Mediterranean. The government was 
conducted on upright principles ; her citizens commanded the 
respect of all who had dealings with them. They would gladly 
have stood aloof from the Roman wars. But their old ally, 
the King of Egypt, was too weak to support them ; and the 
brutal conduct of the King of Macedonia forced them into 
alliance with Rome. 

§ Y. It remains to take a view of Macedon itself. 

A very short time after Demetrius the Besieger fled from the 
field of Ipsus, discrowned and helpless, we are surprised to find 
him in possession of the sceptre of Macedon and lord of Greece. 
After reiging at Pella for seven years, he was expelled from his 
new kingdom by a second coalition, headed by Lysimachus, the 
veteran King of Thrace, and Pyrrhus, the young King of Epirus. 
He made one more desperate attempt to recover his Asiatic domi- 
nions, when he fell into the hands of Seleucus, and died in captivity 
in the year 283 b.c. Soon after, died Ptolemy and Lysimachus. 
Seleucus, the only survivor of Alexander's generals, would have 
won Macedon also, but in the moment of conquest he fell by the 
knife of an assassin. This assassin was Ptolemy Ceraunus, 
eldest son of the deceased King of Egypt. For a brief period, 
this savage became King, and lent aid to Pyrrhus in his Italian 
campaigns. But Ceraunus did not long enjoy his ill-gotten spoil. 

* Dr. Smith's Greece, p. 562. 



CH.VP. XXXVIII. STATE OP THE EASTERN WORLD. 415 

lie lost his life in endeavouring to stay the course of the Gauls 
who burnt Delphi. 

A period of confusion followed. The Gauls, expelled from 
Europe, settled in Asia Minor ; and when Pyrrhus returned 
from Italy in 274 B.C., he found that the sceptre of Macedon had 
fallen into the hands of Antigonas Gonatas, son of Demetrius, 
who transmitted the sceptre of Macedon to his son Demetrius 
II. When this prince died, he left his son Philip, a child of 
eight years old, to the charge of his cousin Antigonus Doson,* 
who took possession of the throne for himself, but in other 
respects acted with honour and good faith towards his young 
charge. He gave him a good education ; and at his death, in 
221 B.C., he took care that Philip should be proclaimed King to 
the exclusion of his own children. Such an example of good faith 
deserves notice in this age of selfishness and corruption. 

When Philip succeeded to the throne, he found the kingdom 
in a flourishing state. No foreign enemy threatened his shores ; 
and unhappy Greece, torn by discord, was ready to welcome him 
as a protector. 

§ 8. The mere mention of the name of Greece excites some 
interest in the mind of the most indifferent reader ; and when 
Greece is mentioned, the first name that memory recalls is that 
of Athens. But there was little left of that glorious spirit which 
enabled Athens to throw back the Persian invader from her 
shores. After the last struggle for independence, Avhen the name 
of Demosthenes sheds a dying glory over Athens, the people 
surrendered itself quietly to the protection of the Kings of 
Macedon. Art, indeed, and literature still remained in their 
old abode. Even now the silken chains were being woven, which, 
at a later time were to bind her Roman conquerors. Zeno the 
Stoic and Epicurus were establishing the rival doctrines which 
afterwards divided the Roman mind between them. Menander 
and Philemon and Diphilus were bringing on the stage those 
dramas of the New Comedy, which not long after delighted the 
Romans in the imperfect versions of Plautus and Terence. Yet, 
for all this, Athens, the star of Greece, had lost her brightness. 
An Athenian and a sycophant became convertible terms. 

§ 9. In Sparta, the old Dorian nobility had dwindled away to 
a few families, who engrossed the land, and exercised tyrannical 
rule over the people. In the year 241 b.c, Agis IV., one o^the 
Kings, a young man of noble spirit, endeavoured to bring about 
a reform of the State, by abolishing all debts, and admitting to the 
Spartan franchise a number of the Lacedaemonians, among whom 

* Awffcjj;, intending to give ; for he did not give up the throne to Philip till 
his death. 



416 CONQUEST OP TPIB WORLD. Book V. 

all lands were to be divided anew according to the system of 
Lycurgus, But tlie old burgesses, led by the Epbors and the 
other King, opposed him vehemently ; and Agis was put to 
death. Then followed a re-action. Cleomenes III., son of the 
King who had opposed Agis, succeeded to the crown and re- 
sumed the projects of that unhappy prince. But he showed 
more prudence in the execution of them ; and for a time some 
appearance of vigour was restored to the enfeebled frame of the 
Spartan constitution. 

§ 10. But at that period chief notice belongs to a people who 
had hitherto played a very subordinate part in the history of 
Greece, the people of Ach^ea. From the time when the " long- 
haired Achseans" fought against Troy, their name had almost 
vanished from the pages of history. All we know of them is, 
that they were a relic of that ancient people who formerly 
possessed Peloponnesus, and were driven by the conquering 
Dorians to a narrow strip of land on the sea-coast. It was in the 
year 280 B.C., Avhen the irruption of the Gauls filled all hearts 
with fear, that four towns of this obscure district united for 
mutual defence. Such was the beginning of that Confederation, 
which became famous under the name of the Achaean League. 

Yet it was not to themselves, but to a foreigner, that this 
fame was due. Aratus was born at Sicyon about the time when 
Pyrrhus came to his ignoble end. Scarcely had he reached the 
age of twenty, when he formed the plan of delivering his native 
city from the Tyrant who oppressed her. Success justified his 
audacity ; and Sicyon, by the advice of Aratus, joined the 
Achaean League (251 B.C.). Not many years after, he was 
elected General-in-chief, and formed the design of uniting a,ll 
Peloponnesus under the League. He set Corinth free from her 
Macedonian garrison, and this important city joined the Fede- 
ration. Her example was followed by Megalopolis and by Argos; 
and by the year 227 B.C. the Achaean League had become the 
chief power of Peloponnesus. But Sparta still stood aloof; and 
Cleomenes had no mind to let his country become a province of 
the League. Aratus endeavoured to compel him. But he was 
an unskilful general, and Cleomenes possessed great talents for 
war. It soon appeared that Sparta was more likely to become 
master of the Achaeans, than the Achaeans of Sparta. In this 
state of things, Aratus scrupled not to undo the work which he 
had spent his best years in executing. He called in the aid of 
Antigonus Doson, or, in other wofds, he made the Achaean League 
subject to Macedon. The army of Antigonus, united to the 
forces of the League, was too much for Cleomenes. He was 
utterly defeated at the battle of Sellasia (222 b.c), and died an 



Chap. XXXVIII. STATE OP THE EASTERN WORLD. 417 

exile in Egypt. Sparta fell into the hands of bloody Tyrants; 
and Aratus henceforth appears as Lieutenant of the King of 
Macedon. 

§ 11. There was yet another warlike State always ready to take 
advantage of the weakness of its neighbours. 

In the best times of Greece the JEtolians make little more 
figure than the Achaeans. From the time when " yellow- 
haired Meleager" slew the boar of Calydon, we hear little of 
them. Dwelling in a mountainous district, they were a nation 
of freebooters, a sort of land-pirates, caring for nothing but 
plunder. They owned no king ; but before this time their 
several tribes had formed a sort of League ; and deputies met 
every year at Thermon, their chief city, to elect a Captain- 
General (ai^ttTj^j'os). They had thriven on the weakness of their 
neighbours. Ambracia, the capital of Pyrrhus, was theirs ; so 
was Naupactus, once the chief station of the Athenian navy in 
the Gulf of Corinth. Thermon rose to be a splendid city, and 
here the ^tolian chiefs lived in great magnificence. But they 
continued their marauding habits on a larger scale and in a 
more regular manner. It was chiefly by their selfish policy that 
the Romans were enabled to become masters of Greece. 

§ 12. The ^tolian chiefs thought that the death of Antigonus 
Doson presented a good opportunity for a foray into Pelopon- 
nesus. The time was well chosen. Philip was too young, they 
thought, to act with promptitude ; Aratus Avas too unskilful a 
general to alarm them. For one year the marauders ravaged 
Arcadia and Argolis at will. But when they repeated their 
inroad in the following season, Philip came to aid the League, and 
the tide of war turned against the ^tolians. 

The young King of Macedon showed great vigour. Not only 
did he expel the invaders from Peloponnesus, but broke into 
their own country and surprised Thermon, where all the trea- 
sures of the nation were deposited. Here he made the fierce 
chiefs his enemies for ever ; for he carried off their treasure, 
destroyed their houses, and burnt down their temples. At this 
moment, Philip's attention was attracted by events which made 
his successes in vEtolia look pale and trifling. These events 
were Hannibal's first victories in Italy. 

§ 13. It was in the winter of 217 B.C., when the Achseans and 
their allies were assembled at Argos under Philip's presidency, 
that their deliberations were suspended by the tidings of the 
battle of Trasimene. The young King's mind was fired with 
eager desire to take part in this more splendid drama. He made 
peace with the JEtolians on terms very favourable to the Achaeans; 
and thus ended what was called the last Social War, 

18* 



418 CONQUEST OP THE WORLD. Book V. 

Nothing could be more imprudent than Philip's desire to take 
part in Western politics. His position at home was most ad- 
vantageous. His army was well disciplined, his fleet consider- 
able ; his finances in good order. The King of Egypt was too 
feeble to thwart him ; the King of Syria and the Republic of 
Rhodes were willing to ' be his allies : the Greek states of Asia 
and Europe were ready to own him as protector ; the malcontent 
^tolians had just felt his power. With prudence he might have 
formed an Eastern confederation, which would have ofi"ered a 
formidable front to Rome. 

But his imagination was influenced by Hannibal's glory; in 
sleep his dreams transported him to Italy ; and when the news 
of the great victory of Cannse followed that of Trasimene, he de- 
termined no longer to stand aloof. It must be added, that his 
natural ambition was urged on by a person whom he had just 
admitted into his councils. This was Demetrius of Pharos, who 
by treachery had lost the lUyrian Principality given him by 
Rome. He took refuge with Philip, and in the autumn which 
followed the battle of Trasimene, the Senate had sent to demand 
the surrender of his person. But at that moment, to be an 
enemy to Rome was to be the friend of Philip ; and Demetrius 
became the King's chief adviser. His acquaintance with Roman 
politics recommended him ; his unscrupulous advice suited the 
temper of Philip better than the cautious policy of Aratus, who 
ceased henceforth to have any weight in the counsels of Philip. 

§ 14. It has been above mentioned that as soon as the news of 
the battle of Cannae arrived, Philip V. King of Macedon sent off" 
ambassadors to off"er terms of alliance to Hannibal ; that the 
messengers fell into the hands of the Romans, and that conse- 
quently the treaty was not concluded till late in the year 215 b.c. 
In this treaty, it was stipulated that Philip should send an army 
to support Hannibal in Italy ; and that, in the event of a suc- 
cessful issue of the war, Illyria should be given to Demetrius, 
while the Roman possessions in Epirus were handed over to 
Philip. The result of this treaty was the First Macedonian War. 




Coin of Philip V., King of Maccdon. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 



FIRST AND SECOND MACEDONIAN WARS 
BY FLAMININUS. (214- 



SETTLEMENT OI' GREECE 

-194 B.C.) 



§ I. Qonduct of Philip. § 2. League formed by Lsevinus with JEtolians. 
§ 3. Activity of Philip: Lsevinus succeeded by Galba: ^gina taken. 
§ 4. Danger of Philip in the year 208 : his vigilance and successes. 
§ 5. End of the First Macedonian "War. § 6. Philip assists Hannibal at 
Zama : Embassy to Eome. § 7. His impohtic conduct towards the 
Achseans. His outrages in Asia Minor. § 8. Athens revolts from Philip : 
complaints laid before the Senate. § 9. Difficulty in declaring war against 
Phihp. § 10. Conquests of Phihp in Thrace. § 11. The Eomans burn 
Chalcis : the Achseans refuse aid to Phihp. § 12. Galba enters Macedonia 
by the North- west : his fruitless campaign. § 13. Second Campaign: 
L. Villius, Consul, attempts to enter Thessaly. § 14. T. Quinctius Fla- 
minius supersedes Vilhus: he forces the pass of the Aoiis. § 15. His 
operations in Greece: dissensions in the Achsean League. § 16. Conference 
during winter between Phihp and Flamininus. § 17. Third Campaign: 
Flamininus continued in command as Proconsul: Romans dominant in 
Greece. § 18. Battle of Cynoscephalse : complete defeat of Phihp. 
§ 19. Terms offered by Flamininus to Phihp: Peace. § 20. Declaration 
of independence at Isthmian Games. § 21. Proceedings of Antiochus, 
Kmg of Syria. § 22. Nabis, Tyrant of Sparta: siege of Sparta. § 23. 
Policy of Flaminmus. § 24. Address of Flamininus to the Greeks at 
Corinth. § 25. His departure, and Triumph. 

§ 1. No doubt Philip's wisest course would have been to abstain 
from mixing himself up with the affairs of Italy ; but, having done 
so, he ought to have engaged heartily in the war. In 212 b.c. Han- 
nibal became master of Tarentum. Then, if ever, would have been 
the time for the King to have dispatched his Macedonian phalanx 
to support the Carthaginian in Italy. His inactivity is the more 
remarkable, because about the same time he delivered himself 



420 CONQUEST OF THE WOLED. Book V. 

so entirely to the counsels of Demetrius that lie did not hesitate 
to disembarrass himself of the troublesome remonstrances of 
Aratus by poison. Thus was the patriotic founder of the 
Acheean League, so long the faithful servant of the Kings of 
Macedon, requited for his services. 

§ 2. On discovering Philip's negotiations with Hannibal, the 
Senate dispatched M. Valerius Lsevinus, with a small squadron, 
to watch his proceedings. This enterprising officer succeeded 
in checking Philip's feeble efforts ; but he took no forward step 
till the year 211 b.c, when ho entered into negotiations with 
the ^tolians, and soon found means to induce their greedy 
chiefs to form a treaty with Rome on terms that reveal their 
selfish policy. They were to join Rome in war upon Philip: all 
cities taken by the confederate forces were to be handed over 
to the ^tolians, but the inhabitants and moveable property 
were to be left to the Romans. 

§ 3. The news of this treaty roused Philip to something of his 
former activity, and he baffled the assault of his enemies on 
every side. Lsevinus, however, succeeded in taking the strong 
city of Anticyra in Locris, which was treated in the manner 
prescribed by treaty. 

His successor was P. Sulpicius Galba, who was ordered to send 
home the legion which had hitherto been employed in Greece. 
The Senate were of opinion that a squadron of ships, supported 
by Attains at sea and by the ^tolians on land, was sufficient 
to hold Philip in check. Galba, thus hampered, was unable to 
do more than seize the island of ^gina. Here, as at Anticyra, 
the inhabitants were sold as slaves for the benefit of the Romans, 
while the place was left to the ^tolian chiefs, who handed it 
over to Attains for 30 talents. This monarch had lately joined 
the allies with a squadron of 35 Pergamese ships, and ^gina 
henceforth became his head-quarters. 

The Achseans, notwithstanding the suspicious death of Aratus, 
preferred maintaining their alliance with Philip to uniting them- 
selves with greedy freebooters like the JEtolians. But the Lace- 
daemonians and Eleans joined the vEtolian League. 

§ 4. In the next year (208 B.C.) Philip with the Achseans had 
to enter upon a conflict with the Romans and Attalus at sea, 
the ^tolians and Lacedaemonians by land, while the Illyrians 
threatened the northern frontiei-s of Macedonia, and the Thra- 
cians broke into the eastern districts. 

To meet these multiplied enemies, Philip exerted a vigour and 
activity worthy of his best days. Fixing his head-quarters at 
Demetrias (a strong fortress in the south of Thessaly, erected by 
Demetrius Poliorcetes to command the passage from Macedonia 



Chap. XXXIX. SECOND MACEDONIAN WAR. 421 

into Greece), lie sent troops to defend his allies from the attacks 
of tlie ^^tqlians. Attains was happily detached from the League 
by an incursion made by Prusias of Bithynia into his kingdom of 
Pergamus ; and Galba, left alone with a feeble squadron, was 
obliged to retire to vEgina. 

In the two following years fortune declared positively for 
Philip. In the Peloponnesus, Philopoemen, the new general of 
the Achaean League, gained a decided superiority over Lacedse- 
mon. The King invaded JEtolia, and again committed Thermon 
to the flames. 

§ 5. The ^tolians finding themselves left to bear the brunt of 
the war, were glad to conclude a peace on terms favourable to 
Macedon, Scarcely was the peace concluded, when P. Sempro- 
nius Tuditanus arrived at Dyrrhachium, and Philip hastened over 
the mountains to attack him. But before any decisive action, the 
Epirotes off'ered their mediation, and a treaty of peace was signed 
between Philip and Rome (205 b.c.) 

Thus ended what is commonly called the First Macedonian 
War. The object of the Romans had been simply to prevent 
Philip from assisting Hannibal in Italy, and in this they had 
succeeded at a very small expense to themselves either in men or 
money. 

§ 6. That Philip entertained few thoughts of a lasting peace, is 
shown by the fact that on Hannibal's return to Africa, he sent 
him 4000 men, commanded by Sopater, a nobleman of the 
highest rank at the Macedonian court, to assist in maintaining 
the war against Scipio. These men took part in the battle of 
Zama, and their commander with many of his men became pri- 
soners. Philip had the impudence to send envoys to Rome, 
to demand their liberation. His envoys were dismissed with 
the stern answer, that "if Philip wished for war, he should 
have it." 

§ 7. Meantime the King of Macedon had been displaying a most 
unfortunate activity in the East and in Greece. 

On the death of Ptolemy Philopator in the very year of the 
Peace of Dyrrhachium, Philip made a bargain with Antiochus 
King of Syria to divide the dominions that had devolved on the 
boy-king of Egypt, Ptolemy Epiphanes. This was the unprincipled 
Treaty of Partition which drove the ministers of young Ptolemy 
to place him under the guardianship of Rome. 

In Greece the tyrannical disposition, which Philip had dis- 
closed ever since Demetrius of Pharos became his chief counsel- 
lor, exhibited itself more and more. This man was killed in battle 
soon after the Peace of Dyrrhachium, and was succeeded in the 
king's confidence by still more unscrupulous knaves, Heraclides, 



422 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. Book Y. 

a Tarentine pirate, and Dicsearclius, an JEtolian exile. At their 
instigation Philip now attempted to take off Philopoemen as he 
had taken off Aratus, but without success ; and the Achaean 
patriots, though they dreaded the -^tolian marauders, yet would 
not brook the oppressive tyranny of Philip. It was as yet uncer- 
tain what part they would take in the war. 

In Asia Minor his conduct was so outrageous, that the Rhodian 
fleet combined with that of Attalus, took the sea, and blockaded 
him in Caria so closely, that it was not till the spring of 201 b.c. 
that he effected his escape into Europe. 

§ 8. The Rhodians and Attalus now passed over to Greece, and 
promised the Athenians support if they would throw off the Mace- 
donian yoke. Philip dispatched an army to overawe Athens, while 
in person he laid siege to Abydos. 

But, meantime, the injured powers had sent to complain at 
Rome ; and three Roman eftvoys, who were then just starting to 
assume the guardianship of the young King of Egypt, were 
ordered to visit Philip on their way, and remonstrate on his pro- 
ceedings. They were all men of note, — Claudius Nero the con- 
queror of Hasdrubal, P. Sempronius Tuditanus the author of the 
Peace of Dyrrhachium, and M. vEmilius Lepidus a young Senator 
of high and generous spirit, who afterwards rose to be the first 
man at Rome. Lsevinus was dispatched anew to Greece with the 
fleet that had during the Punic War been employed on the coast 
of Sicily. But no proposal to declare war was made till the next 
year (200 B.C.). 

§ 9. On the Ides of March, the day on which at that period the 
Consuls entered upon office, these magistrates summoned the 
Senate. Dispatches had just arrived from Lsevinus, detailing in 
full the late conduct of Philip, and urging the necessity of an im- 
mediate declaration of war. The three envoys had found Philip 
at Abydos, and JEmilius had remonstrated in plain and open lan- 
guage. " You speak thus," replied the King, " because you are a 
young man, a handsome man, and — a Roman. If," he added, 
" you wish for war, I am ready." The Consul P. Sulpicius Galba, 
who had before succeeded Lsevinus, was again appointed to con- 
duct the Macedonian war, and prepared to bring in a bill for the 
purpose before the Assembly of the Centuries. 

Great pains had been taken to prepare the minds of the People 
for ready acquiescence. At the conclusion of the HannibaJic 
War, the victories of Rome had been celebrated with games of 
extraordinary pomp by the JEdiles, one of whom was T. Quinctius 
Flamininus, the future conqueror of Philip. The poorer class 
of citizens had been invited to purchase at a low rate the large 
supplies of grain sent over by Scipio from Africa. Portions of 



Chap. XXXIX. SECOND MACEDONIAN WAR. 423 

the Public Land in Apulia and Samnium were distributed to the 
veterans of Scipio. 

There was, however, a general disinclination to make the sacri- 
fices required by a new war. The citizens of Rome, as well as 
the Latins and Italians, were all liable to be drawn for service, 
unless they were past the military age, or had already served 
their time. Every family had for years seen its best and 
strongest males withdrawn from rustic labour to bear arms 
against Carthage ; all were anxious to avoid any return of the 
miseries which they had endured during Hannibal's occupation 
of Italy. The declaration of war was rejected by the vote of 
almost every Century. 

But the Senate was not to be thus discouraged. The Consul 
was ordered to summon the Centuries to a second vote. Before 
the question was put, he addressed them in a set speech, in which 
he argued that the point of decision was, not whether they would 
go to war with Philip or not, but whether they would have that 
war in Italy or across the sea. The yeomen of the Tribes, terri- 
fied at the thoughts of a new invasion, believed his arguments, and 
reversed their vote. 

In consequence of these delays, Galba was not able to reach 
Apollonia till near the end of the season ; but he at once dis- 
patched C. Claudius Centho to relieve Athens. 

§ 10. Meantime Philip had been pursuing a very successful 
career in Thrace. Abydos alone held out with heroic bravery : 
rather than yield to Philip, they said they would destroy every 
living soul within the city. " Well," remarked the King, with 
the reckless wit for which he was famous, " we will suspend the 
siege, and give them three days to kill themselves in." At last 
it fell ; and Philip heard that the Romans were in Epirus and at 
Athens. 

§ 11. At once he crossed over to Demetrias. While he lay 
here, Claudius made an inroad into Euboea, and surprised the 
strong city of Chalcis. Philip crossed the Euripus; but, too 
late to save the place from plunder, he resolved to take ven- 
geance upon Athens. Claudius was not strong enough to meet 
him in the field, and Philip wreaked his barbarous rage on the 
sacred groves and buildings round the city, which his generals 
had hitherto spared. The Achseans were exasperated by this 
conduct, and were still less inclined to take part with the reckless 
tyrant. 

§ 12. Early in the next year (199 b.c.) Galba moved. Under 
the guidance of Pleuratus, a young lUyrian chief, he advanced 
through the rugged and woody districts to the west of the Axius 
(Vardar), then called Eordsea and Elymiotis, but avoided a 



42.4 CONQUEST OP THE WORLD. Book V 

descent into tlie level plain ; and Ptilip, not choosing to risk a 
battle on ground unfavourable to the action of the phalanx, con- 
tented himself with watching the enemy, Galba at length re- 
turned to ApoUonia by the valley of the Apsus. He had effected 
nothing, and his army suffered greatly in its bootless campaign. 
When he first landed at Corcyra, he Avrote word to the Senate 
that a laurel with which his ship's stem was decked had budded 
— a sure omen of victory ; but no laurel wreath adorned the Con- 
sul's brow. 

§ 13. Galba's campaign took place after his successor P. Villius 
Tappulus had entered upon office ; but the latter did not arrive 
at Corcyra till late in the season, and during the winter he was 
occupied with quelling a mutiny. In the spring of 198 B.C. he 
took the field, but did not attempt the northern passes as Galba 
had done. He had the merit of perceiving that Philip was most 
vulnerable in Thessaly ; that the army, supported by the fleet, 
might by its presence in that country deprive Philip of all in- 
fluence in Greece. With the aim of penetrating into Thessaly, 
therefore, he marched up the valley of the Aovis ; and in a narrow 
defile of this valley he found Philip strongly posted. While he 
was considering his next move, he received news that T. Quinctius 
Elamininus, the Consul of the year, had arrived at Corcyra to take 
the command. 

§ 14. Flamininus is as much the hero of the Macedonian war 
as is Scipio of the war with Hannibal. He also was a Patrician, 
and was elected to the Consulship at the age of thirty. Unlike 
Galba and Villius, he left Rome soon after the Ides of March, in- 
stead of allowing himself to be detained at Rome till it was time 
to go into winter-quarters. His brother Lucius accompanied him 
to take the command of the fleet. 

The position occupied by Philip Avas at a point where the valley 
closes in to a narrow gorge, which the Macedonians had occupied 
so skilfully that Flamininus hesitated to attempt a direct 
attack.* Both armies lay confronting each other for about six 
weeks, when an attempt was made to settle matters by negotia- 
tion. But Flamininus demanded that "the King should with- 
draw his garrisons from all Hellenic cities, making restitution for 
injuries past, and leave them independent for the future," and 
Philip broke oft" the conference, exclaiming that " no harder 
terms could be asked if he Avere beaten." It is probable that 
the Romans might have been altogether foiled, had not an 
Epirote chief named Charops betrayed a path by which the 
enemy's position might be turned. The Macedonians beat off 

* The place seems to have been a httle below Klissoura, where a ridge 
strikes across the gorge, and leaves a very narrow passage for tlie stream. 



CH.iP XXXIX. SECOND MACEDONIAN WAR. 425 

the Roman assaults gallantly till tliey found themselves attacked 
in rear. Then they fled precipitately up the pass, past the 
present town of Metzovo; and Philip, after throwing garrisons 
into the strongest fortresses of Thessaly, withdrew to Pella. 

§ 15. Flamininus attempted not to pursue him, but remained 
in Epirus, where he secured the goodwill of the people by his 
mild treatment. From Epirus he marched through Thessaly, 
and passed southward into Locris, where the seaport of Anticyra 
served as a basis of operations. He then laid siege to Elateia, a 
strong fortress which commanded the chief pass leading from 
Boeotia northwards. 

Meanwhile the Roman fleet, under the command of the 
general's brother, anchored at Cenchrea3, the eastern haven of 
Corinth. The purpose of L. Flamininus was to influence the 
General Assembly of the Achsean League, which had met at 
^gium. The question for decision was whether they were to 
take part in the war, and if so, what part. Opinion had gra- 
dually been becoming more positive in favour of the Romans, 
and the leader of the Macedonian party had been banished; 
yet there was a third party, headed by Philopoemen, which 
desired neutrality. Great was the perplexity of the Assembly. 
If they declared in favour of the Romans, they would find 
themselves leagued with the barbarous ^tolians ; if they re- 
mained neutral, they might find themselves left in a perilous 
state of isolation. It is probable that the neutral party would 
have carried the day, had not Philopoemen been absent. After 
hearing the envoys of both powers, they sat a whole day silent 
or murmuring. Next day a tumultuous debate followed ; on 
the third day the majority voted for alliance with Rome, but 
the representatives of some States withdrew under protest ; 
Argos admitted a Macedonian garrison ; and Megalopolis stood 
aloof. The League was in fact broken up ; but the vote of the 
Assembly enabled Flamininus to declare himself Protector of the 
liberties of Greece. 

§ 16. During the winter, both powers were active in negotiation. 
Philip was alarmed at the success of Flamininus. Flamininus was 
fearful of being superseded in the command. 

Both parties therefore agreed to a conference, which was held 
near the Pass of Thermopylae. The King approached the ' ap- 
pointed place in his state galley, attended by the banished 
Achaean leader, and two Macedonian ofticers. Flamininus stood 
upon the shore surrounded by his allies, Amynander Prince of 
the Athamanians, the envoy of Attains, the Rhodian admiral, 
the chiefs of the Achaean League, and Phaeneas the one-eyed 
captain of the ^tolians. The Roman began by demanding that 



426 CONQUEST OP THE WORLD. BookV, 

;■' Philip should restore freedom to the cities of Greece, and 
make restitution for injuries." He was followed by his several 
allies, who urged their own claims not without vehemence. 
Philip kept his patience till the JEtolian chief broke in by 
saying, that " this was no question of words : the long and short 
of it was that Philip must conquer or obey." "Ay," retorted 
the King in his sarcastic vein, " one may see that with half an 
eye." So closed the first day's conference. Next day Flamininus 
persuaded the allies to allow him to conduct the negotiations 
alone. On the third day proceedings closed with a proposal that 
both parties should send envoys to the Senate at Rome. 

When Philip's envoy began a set speech before the Senate he 
was cut short by the question, " Whether the King was prepared 
to withdraw the garrison from the three fortresses which (in his 
biting way) he used to call the Fetters of Greece — ^Demetrias, 
Chalcis, and Corinth ?" The envoy had received no instructions 
on this point, and was ordered to leave Rome. 

§17. Both parties therefore prepared for a decisive conflict. 
Flamininus was continued in the command as Proconsul. All 
Greece between Thessaly and the Isthmus was with him, except 
Acarnania and Boeotia. Acarnania might safely be neglected, 
but it was of high importance to secure Boeotia. An assembly 
was held at Thebes to discuss the propriety of submission, at 
which Attains, now an old man, spoke with so much warmth 
that he fell down in a fit, and died not long after. During the 
debate the Consul introduced a body of soldiers into Thebes, and 
the Assembly voted for alliance Avith Rome. Still more mortify- 
ing to Philip was it to see Nabis, Tyrant of Lacedsemon, follow 
the general current. He had stooped to court the favour of 
this monster, and as an earnest of goodwill put Argos into his 
hands. Nabis took the bribe, and then concluded an alliance with 
Flamininus. 

§ 18. In 197 B.C., therefore, Flamininus advanced from Elateia 
to Thermopylae with all Greece at his back. Here he paused till he 
was joined by a division of ^tolian cavalry. Philip had already 
passed through the Vale of Tempe into Thessaly. Constant wars 
had so drained the population of Macedonia that the levies in- 
cluded veterans past the time of service, and boys of the tender 
age of sixteen. The phalanx, as usual, consisted of two divisions, 
each 8000 strong ; and to this were added about 7000 light troops 
and 2000 horse. The Romans had about the same number of 
foot, but the ^tolian cavalry gave them a great advantage in this 
arm. After some manoeuvring, Philip fell back upon Scotussa, 
where plains of waving corn, then just ripe, supplied forage. 
Flamininus followed ; and the two armies encamped, unknowingly, 



Chap. y^XTX SECOND MACEDONIAN WAR. 427 

on opposite sides of the same low range of hills, which from their 
appearance were called CynoscephalfB, or the Dogheads. The 
next day Avas stormy, and the air so darkened by mist and rain 
that the men could only see a few yards before them. Philip, 
however, detached a body of light troops to occupy the ridge : 
and at the same time a Roman reconnoitering party ascended the 
opposite slope. The Eomans, being the weaker, were driven 
down the hill towards their camp, where they were supported 
by fresh troops, and the Macedonians were obliged to retire to 
the summit of the ridge. The mist now cleared off. The Mace- 
donians, reinforced in their turn, again forced the Romans down 
the slope, and would have cut them to pieces had not the 
vEtolian cavalry held them in check. Flamininus now drew out 
the Legions, and advanced with his whole line of battle ; while 
the Macedonian officers sent off message after message to the 
King, exaggerating their success, and urging him to bring up the 
Phalanxes and secure the victory. Philip was a good general, 
and had no mind to entangle his columns in uneven ground, but 
he suffered himself to be persuaded against his better judgment. 
The King himself led one Phalanx on the right, while Nicanor 
was to follow with the other on the left. 

On ordinary occasions the Phalanx was drawn up sixteen men 
in file ; but on this day Philip threw his division into a much 
deeper column. Its weight was thus much increased ; and as 
it bore down upon the Roman left with levelled lances, ten 
points against each soldier, its charge was irresistible. The 
Legions gave way before it. But while this was taking place on 
the Roman left, Flamininus upon the right observed Nicanor's 
Phalanx still upon the brow of the hill, broken by the rough 
ground. He immediately sent up his elephants, and following 
with his Legionaries charged before the enemy had time to form. 
The left Phalanx, attacked in this helpless condition, were driven 
over the hill in utter confusion. Philip saAV that all was lost, and 
left the field. Not fewer than 8000 Macedonians were killed; 
7000 were taken prisoners. The army was annihilated. 

§ 19. When the Romans reached the Macedonian camp, they 
found that their light-fingered allies the JEtolians had already 
plundered it. If this disgusted the soldiery, Flamininus himself 
was provoked by the arrogance with which their chiefs claimed 
the chief share in the victory of Cynoscephalae. Their cavalry 
had doubtless done good service ; but it was too much for Roman 
pride to hear an epigram recited, in which it was said that 
"Philip had been conquered by the ^tolians and the Latins."* 

* AItuIuv dfirjdevTeg vi^ 'Apeof ijdl Aarivuv. The epigram was written 
bj Alraeus of Messene. See Plutarch, Vit. Mamin. c. 9. 



428 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD, BOOK V. 

The ^tolians had now ceased to be useful to the Eomans, and 
from this time forth we find little harmony between theni. 
Flamininus held a conference with Philip at Tempe ; and the 
.<Etolians were furious to find that the politic Eoman ofiered Philip 
the old conditions of peace, whereas they wished for nothing less 
than to deprive him of his crown, Philip gladly accepted the 
off"er of the General : he paid down 200 talents caution-money, 
and gave up his son Demetrius and other hostages, who were 
to be restored in case the Senate refused their assent to the treaty. 
But Flamininus was at this time completely trusted; and ten 
Commissioners Avere sent with a Decree of the Senate, which pre- 
scribed the basis on which the settlement of Greece was to be 
made. All the engagements of the Proconsul were sanctioned ; 
but Philip was required to pay 1000 talents, half at once and 
half in annual instalments for ten years. 

On the arrival of the Commissioners, rumours became rife of 
the intentions of the Senate, The JEtolians eagerly caught up 
these rumours, and endeavoured to raise the indignation of the 
Greeks. " The freedom promised was," they said, " an illusion. 
Greece would only find a change of masters, Macedonian garri- 
sons will be replaced by Roman. The Fetters of Greece would 
only be clasped tighter by a stronger hand." Flamininus exerted 
himself to weaken the effect of these representations; and the 
Greeks waited anxiously but quietly for the promulgation of the 
Decree. 

§ 20. The Commissioners repaired to Corinth, and it was 
generally known that their resolutions would be publicly 
announced at the approaching Isthmian Games. That city of 
old renown was thronged by the assembled Greeks, who 
came not so much to witness the national festival, as to learn 
their country's fate from the lips of the conqueror. The day 
arrived. Flamininus took his seat in the Amphitheatre. Amid 
the expectation of all men, a trumpet sounded, and a crier 
advanced into the arena, who proclaimed that, the Roman Se- 
nate AND T. QUINCTIUS THE GeNERAL, HAVING CONQUERED KiNG 

Philip and the Macedonians, declared all the Greeks who 

HAD been subject TO THE KiNG FREE AND INDEPENDENT. The 

glad news was more than men could believe ; they gazed incre- 
dulously on each other; they asked their neighbours whether 
they had heard aright. Then a general cry arose that the pro- 
clamation should be repeated. And now, when doubt gave way 
to certainty, a deafening shout of joy burst from the assembled 
multitude. Men's minds were too much absorbed with serious 
topics to be interested by shows ; the games were hurried over. 
When the Roman General rose to leave the Amphitheatre, the 



Chap. XXXIX. SECOND MACEDONIAN WAR. 429 

crowd pressed so closely round him, eager to touch his hand and 
wreathe his head with garlands, that he was well nigh smothered 
under their tumultuous greeting. 

This memorable event took place in the summer of 196 b.c, 
about a year after the battle of Cynoscephalae. 

§ 21. Flamininus remained nearly two years in Greece after 
the day of the Proclamation. Already the seeds of a new war 
were sown. Envoys had arrived from Antiochus, King of Syria, 
a rash and selfish monarch, who had some reason for alarm. We 
have related how he had proposed to divide with Philip the 
possessions of the King of Egypt. But no sooner was Philip 
engaged in a war with Rome than Antiochus seized the oppor- 
tunity to occupy Asia Minor, and he was now preparing to cross 
the Hellespont. 

Hitherto, Flamininus had abstained from every step which 
could irritate a new enemy ; but now he cared not any longer 
to humour the King of Syria. He dismissed the Envoys with 
peremptory orders for Antiochus "to restore the Greek cities 
in Asia to independence, and on no account to set foot in 
Europe." At the same time he promised that Commissioners 
should be sent to acquaint him more explicitly with the pleasure 
of the Senate. 

§ 22. Some things in Greece required the immediate attention 
of the General. It was necessary to secure the peace and safety 
of Peloponnesus by putting down Nabis, Tyrant of Lacedasmon. 
No peaceful community could subsist by the side of this 
barbarian. How he gained his power we know not. He con- 
firmed himself in it by a caricature of the reforms of Cleomenes, 
and distributed the lands among a number of enfranchised 
Helots. The rich and respectable citizens he banished or put to 
death ; those who were suspected of wealth were put to the 
torture. His favourite engine for this purpose Avas a wooden 
figure representing his wife Apega, which clasped the unhappy 
recusant to breasts furnished with sharp spikes in place of nipples. 
He maintained a considerable fleet and army, which were em- 
ployed in piracy and plunder. 

The Roman general had no pretext for war against him. He 
had admitted him into alliance just before the battle of Cynosce- 
phalae, and Nabis' had not broken the terms. Flamininus, there- 
fore, resolved to act merely as the agent of the Achaeans, who 
had abundant grounds for complaint against the Tyrant. He 
led the allies against Sparta, which, though formerly unwalled, 
was now strongly fortified ; and the desperadoes who formed its 
garrison defended their last hope bravely. But the Tyrant must 
have yielded at discretion, had not Flamininus, whose departure 



430 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. Book V. 

from Greece was now fast approacliing, granted him fair terms. 
The Achseans murmured, but in vain. Nabis was deprived of the 
southern portion of Laconia, which was declared free ;* and was 
required to give up his fleet and disband his army. 

§ 23. Flamininus employed the few months that remained 
before his departure in making a tour of Greece, and settling 
the government in Thessaly and other newly-emancipated places. 
Everywhere he gave preponderance to the aristocratical or 
Eoman party, and attempted to create such a balance of power, 
that each state should be afraid of going to war. He spared 
Philip in the North to check the power of the -<:Etolians, and 
Nabis in the South to be a thorn in the side of the Achseans. 
He intended that no state in Greece should be strong enough to 
prevail over the rest, but that all should maintain a species of in- 
dependence under the protection of Rome, which was to occupy 
the place filled by Macedon since the battle of Sellasia. 

§ 24. The spring of the year 194 b.c. now came on, and 
Flamininus prepared for departure. He assembled his Grecian 
allies at Corinth, and addressed them in a parting speech. He 
declared he had been actuated in all his measures by a sincere 
desire of promoting their good ; he had spared Nabis only because 
he could not put him down without destroying the ancient city of 
Sparta ; " his last act," he said, " should prove whether the word 
of Romans or of ^tolians were more trustworthy. He would 
show that the freedom of Greece was to be no illusion. He 
would withdraw the Eoman garrisons from all the cities, even 
from those famous strongholds which were called the Fetters of 
Greece. Corinth, Chalcis, and Demetrias should be pledges of 
his sincerity. And now," he added, " now that you have perfect 
liberty, show that you understand its value by maintaining peace 
and goodwill among yourselves. Let the Roman People know 
that you are wprthy of the gift they have bestowed." 

These words so touched the hearers, that with the excitable 
temper of a Southern people they burst into tears; and the 
General himself was so affected, that he was for a time unable 
to go on. After a pause he asked as a personal favour, that all 
Roman citizens who were in slavery among them should be set 
free, and allowed to attend his triumph. The request was granted 
by acclamation ; and the Achseans alone redeemed 1200 Roman 
slaves at the expense of the State. 

§ 25. Two months after this memorable scene, Flamininus set 
sail from Oricum, after an absence of nearly five years, during 
three of which he had been almost the absolute Sovereign of 

* Hence this district was named The Eleuthero-Lacones. 



Chap. XXXIX. 



SECOND MACEDONIAN WAR. 



431 



Greece, He landed at Brundusium with his army, and marched 
in a sort of festal procession along the Appian Way to Rome. 
The Senate met him outside the walls, and granted the Triumph 
he had justly earned. The Triumph lasted three days. The 
first two were taken up with processions of cars, carrying the 
spoils taken from Philip and Nabis. On the third day, the 
General himself ascended to the Capitol, preceded by his pri- 
soners and hostages, among whom were two King's sons, Deme- 
trius son of Philip, and Armenes son of Nabis. After him came 
his soldiers, all enriched by the war; and, lastly, the liberated 
slaves, forming the most glorious part of the whole. Not Scipio 
himself had enjoyed a more splendid triumph. The character 
of Flamminus, indeed, could not challenge comparison with the 
heroic proportions of Scipio : yet there was no other Roman who 
could be compared with Flamininus. 




Coin of the Quinctian Gens, bearing the head of Flamininus; 




Coin of Antiochus the Great. 



CHAPTER XL. 



■WAR WITH ANTIOCHUS, AND SETTLEMENT OF EASTERN AFFAIRS 
(192—188 B.C.) 

§ 1. Antiochus ordered to quit Europe. § 2. His court at Ephesus visited 
by Hannibal : how this happened. § 3. Hannibal's plan. § 4. Intrigues 
of ^toUans in Greece : death of Nabis : Sparta joins Achtean League. 
§ 5. Flamininus dispatched to Greece : Thoas the JEtohan persuades An- 
tiochus to cross over into Greece. § 6. Antiochus lands at Demetrias: 
welcomed by the northern Greeks. § 7. Opinion of Hannibal: frivolity of 
Antiochus. § 8. Next spring, Antiochus advances into Acarnania : retreats 
to Thennopylse. § 9. The pass of ThermopylEe forced by the Consul Gla- 
brio ; Cato. § 10. Advice of Flamininus to Glabrio, not to crush -i^Etolians. 
§ 11. Flamininus puts all Peloponnesus under the Achasan League: his 
warning. § 12. Next year, L. Scipio, with his brother Publius as Legate, 
takes the command against Antiochus. §13. Operations by sea : Battle of 
Myonnesus. § 14. Great army of Antiochus. § 15. Battle of Magnesia: 
utter defeat of the Syrians. § 16. Terms of peace dictated by Scipio. 
§ IT. Effects at Eome of the Syrian triumph. § 18. M. Fulvius Nobilior 
reduces ^tolians: Flamininus again interferes. §19. On. Manlius Vulso 
makes war, without authority, upon the Galatians. § 20. Distribution of 
the Asiatic possessions of Antiochus. § 21. Fruits of the Galatian "War. 

§ 1. Notwithstanding the warning of Flamininus, Antiochus 
crossed the Hellespont (192 B.C.). Abydos yielded to him. Ly- 
simacheia, destroyed by Philip, he ordered to be rebuilt ; and 
here he was found by the Commissioners of the Senate. They 
told him not to imagine that the Romans had spared Philip 
for him to conquer, and required him to quit Europe at once 
and to give up all the cities of Asia Minor which he had taken. 
An angry argument followed, which was broken off by a false 
report of the death of young Ptolemy. The Syrian King returned 
m haste to Asia, that he might be ready for all contingencies. 



Chap. XL. SYRIAN "WAR. 433 

§ 2, At this crisis the court of Antiochus was visited by a 
man whose counsels, had they been followed, might have changed 
the history of the world. 

After the conclusion of peace with Eome, Hannibal applied 
all his energies to the reform of the State. His first step 
was to put down the selfish oligarchy which had crippled 
his enterprises in Italy. He had carried safe from the field 
of Zama the greater part of his veterans, and their swords made 
him master of the State. He found that the finances had been 
shamefully maladministered by the Council of One Hundred. 
He at once ordained that this Council should be re-elected, 
wholly or in part, every year, not by themselves, but by the 
people. He published a statement, by which it appeared that 
the present revenue, properly administered, would amply suflBce 
to defray all the expenses of the Government, as well as the 
tribute due to Rome. The old oligarchy could not brook to lose 
the gains of office without a struggle. They sent messages to 
the Senate accusing Hannibal of forming secret treaties with 
Antiochus and others. As soon as the Macedonian War was 
ended, the Senate sent commissioners to inquire into the truth 
of the accusations. Hannibal felt that he was already condemned 
by these prejudiced judges, and fled from Africa. He reached 
Tyre in safety, and thence repaired to the court of Antiochus at 
Ephesus. Here he exerted all his abilities to widen the breach 
between Eome and the Sjrrian monarch. 

§ 3. Antiochus had made up his mind to war, and Hannibal 
was welcomed and consulted. His plan of operations was this. 
He asked for 10,000 men and 100 ships of war, with transports. 
With these he would sail to Carthage and make her declare 
war against Rome. He would then invade Italy, while Anti- 
ochus, with an overpowering force, should cross over into Greece 
and raise all the country against Rome. 

§ 4. The time was favourable. The Romans were engaged in 
desperate conflicts with the Spaniards, as well as with the Ligu- 
rians and the Gauls of Northern Italy;* and the presence of 
Hannibal might have revived a contest as fierce as in the Great 
Punic War. In Greece the discontent of the ^tolians had laid 
a train of fresh troubles. No sooner had Flamminus turned his 
back than they began their intrigues, and determined to set 
Greece in a flame. At the suggestion of Thoas, their Chief, 
envoys were sent to Antiochus, Philip, and Nabis, urging these 
monarchs to war. Philip at once refused; he had sufi'ered too 
much; he detested the .^tolians, and was little satisfied with 

* See the next Chapter. 
19 



434 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. Book V. 

the selfish conduct of Antiochus. Nabis wanted little incite- 
ment : he flew to arms, assassinated all the Roman partisans in 
Lacedsemon, and sent marauding parties into the territory of the 
Achaean League ; but he was soon compelled by Philopoemen to 
retire behind the walls of Sparta. Antiochus sent back Thoas 
with promises, and the ^tolians resolved at once to commence 
their movements. On a given day they attempted to gain 
possession of Chalcis, Demetrias, and Sparta. At Chalcis they 
failed ; Demetrias was betrayed by its inhabitants. Their per- 
fidious attempt on Sparta was defeated ; Nabis himself was 
killed ; the most respectable citizens hastily sent for Philo- 
pcemen, and declared Sparta a member of the Achaean League. 

§ 5. These things took place in the summer of 192 b.c. On 
hearing of the first disturbances, the Senate had dispatched 
Flamininus to Greece at the head of a Commission. Flami- 
ninus remained there, while he sent on the other Commissioners 
to warn Antiochus against taking part with the ^tolians. But 
Thoas had just returned to Ephesus with news of the capture 
of Demetrias. If the King would but show himself, he said, 
Macedonia and all Greece would rise to welcome him ; but he 
must come at once, or the Eomans would be upon them. 

The only forces which Antiochus had ready were the 10,000 
men whom he had assembled to execute the plan of Hannibal. 
The great Carthaginian had overcome the King's jealous feelings 
by the tale of his boyish oath to bear eternal enmity against 
Eome ; and for a time Antiochus followed all his counsels. But 
the flattering words of Thoas once more estranged the King's 
mind from the great general ; and the lying JEtolian obtained 
absolute influence at court. Notwithstanding the pleadings of 
Hannibal, notwithstanding the warnings of the Roman Com- 
missioners, Antiochus determined to set sail for Europe, and 
thus virtually declared war against Rome. 

§ 6. He offered a solemn sacrifice at Troy, and in a few days 
landed at Demetrias. Here he was welcomed with loud accla- 
mations. The Boeotians, eager to satiate their hatred of Rome, 
received him joyfully; the people of Elis, old enemies of the 
Achsean League, sent him favourable answers ; the Epirotes pro- 
mised to join him as soon as he should appear; and Amy- 
nander, the Athamanian, was persuaded to desert his old allies 
and join Antiochus. The Achseans, however, unanimously de- 
clined his offers. 

Presently, he held a council of war at Demetrias. The 
JEtolians advised that the first thing needful was to secure 
possession of all Thessaly. All the rest approved except 
Hannibal, who sate silent. The King asked his opinion. He 



Chap. XL. SYRIAN WAR. 435 

said that " his opinion was unchanged. He had thought before, 
and he thought still, that all the time spent in gaining the 
support of the Greeks was thrown away. They must side with 
the strongest, and if the King were victorious would join him 
as a matter of course. It was ill-advised to have believed 
the false reports of the ^tolians, and to have ventured into 
Greece with so small a force ; but now the best thing to be 
done was to force Philip to take part with them, by ordering 
Seleucus, the King's son, to advance into Macedonia : to send 
for reinforcements without delay ; to station the fleet at Cor- 
cyra, and concentrate all the forces in Epirus, so as to meet the 
Romans there or (if possible) to invade Italy." 

§ 7. But this plan was too great for the petty mind of the 
King and his advisers. He spent the summer in Thessaly, and 
as winter approached retired to the fortress of Chalcis in Euboea, 
which had opened its gates at his approach. Here the senseless 
monarch gave himself up to enjoyment. He married a fair 
daughter of the place, and celebrated his marriage with Oriental 
splendour. His oflScers and their men followed the royal ex- 
ample ; all bonds of order and discipline were relaxed. The 
Syrians passed the winter in idling and drinking, and Philo- 
poemen regretted that he was no longer General of the League, 
or he would have cut off the whole army in detail. 

Meanv/hile the Senate were busily engaged in preparing for 
war. The conduct of Antiochus had so completely thrown the 
game into their hands that it was easy to represent the war as 
one of simple defence. No one could say that they had pro- 
voked it. The Achseans regarded them as their champions. 

§ 8. In the spring of the next year (191 b.c.) Antiochus roused 
himself and advanced into Acarnania. His prospects suddenly 
darkeiied. At the same moment he heard that Philip, with the 
authority of the Romans, was fast reconquering the Thessalian 
cities which had submitted in the previous year, and that the 
Consul, M' Acilius Glabrio, had also entered Thessaly. The 
-^tolians, after all their promises, brought but 4000 men into 
the field. Antiochus retraced his steps to Chalcis, and sent 
urgent messages for additional forces, but in vain. The Roman 
Consul was approaching Thermopylae from the north, and unless 
he were checked here, Boeotia and Euboea, as well as Thessaly, 
would be lost. 

§ 9. The Pass of Thermopylae is formed, as is well known, by 
a spur of Mount (Eta, which comes close down upon the sea. 
The King intrenched himself in the narrowest place, like Leonidas 
of old, but not in the spirit of Leonidas. The mountain- 
path, by which the Persian troops had found a way to the rear 



436 UUNQUJBST OP THE WOLRD. Book V. 

of the Greeks, was now committed to the charge of the -^tolians ; 
but these freebooters sent a small detachment only on this 
service, while they employed their chief force in seizing the 
neighbouring city of Heraclea. The Consul encamped in 
front of the Pass ; but before commencing the assault he sent 
his lieutenants, L. Valerius Flaccus and M. Porcius Cato, to 
force their way over the mountain to the rear of the enemy. 
The Syrians defended their entrenchments well, but as soon 
as they found themselves attacked in rear, they threw down 
their arms and fled with precipitation. Antiochus himself was 
wounded in the mouth by a stone, and escaped with only 500 
men to Chalcis. The Consul embraced Cato before the whole 
army, and, declaring that the whole merit of the victory lay 
with him, sent him home with news of the victory. He tra- 
velled with the greatest speed, landed at Tarentum, and in five 
days more announced to the Senate that Greece was delivered 
from the Syrians. When the Consul advanced into Bceotia, 
the King re-embarked for Ephesus, taking with him his bride, the 
only conquest which he retained. 

§ 10. Glabrio soon reduced the strong places which had joined 
the enemy, and then laid siege to Naupactus, the chief station 
of the ^tolian navy. While he was thus engaged, Flamininus 
arrived in his camp. He immediately pointed out to the 
Consul that it would be an error to crush the ^tolians alto- 
gether, and thus to leave Philip, who had by this time recon- 
quered Upper Thessaly, without any people strong enough to 
balance his power in Upper Greece. Glabrio acquiesced, and 
Naupactus was left to the ^tolians. 

§ 11. On his way to the Consul's camp, Flamininus ordered 
the Messenians and Eleans to give in their adhesion to the 
Achaean League. Thus at length all Peloponnesus was combined 
into one Federate State, and the darling project of Aratus 
seemed to be fulfilled. But Philopoemen and the patriots looked 
sadly on. They felt that this consummation was due to foreign 
force, and was, in fact, a proof of weakness. This weakness 
appeared still more palpably before the departure of the Eomans. 
The Achseans laid claim to the island of Zacynthus, which had 
lately belonged to Philip. " Take care," said Flamininus, " what 
you do. Your League is like a tortoise, safe while it keeps its 
head within Peloponnesus, but in danger as soon as it ventures 
beyond." The League needed no further hint. It drew in its 
head, and Zacynthus passed into the hands of the Eomans. 

§ 12. As soon as Antiochus had left Europe, he thought he was 
secure from the Romans. But Hannibal, who had prophesied the 
event of the last campaign, and had now regained some measure 



Chap. XL. SYRIAN WAR. 437 

of credit witli tlie arrogant monarch, told liim lie only wondered 
they Avere not already in Asia. 

The Consuls for the new year (190 b.c.) were L. Scipio the elder 
brother, and C. Lselius the bosom friend, of the great Africanus. 
Lselius was anxious for the command in the East, and the Senate 
were disposed to confer it on him ; but Africanus rose in the Senate- 
house and said, that if they would give it to his brother, he would 
himself accompany him as lieutenant. This decided the question, 
and the two Scipios left the city as early as possible for Greece. 
They found Glabno still engaged in the siege of petty fortresses. 
Africanus had taken care that a number of his own veterans 
should be enlisted in his brother's army ; and they both agreed 
that the war should be carried as soon as possible into Asia. 
L. Scipio therefore granted a fresh armistice to the -^tolians, 
and sent an envoy to Philip to demand a free passage for the 
army through Macedonia and Thrace. Philip, eager to retain 
his conquests in Thessaly, showed great alacrity in the Roman 
service. He repaired the roads and bridges, laid in stores for 
the army along the line of march, and attended the Consul in 
person to the Hellespont. 

§ 13. The march of the Romans eastward convinced Antiochus 
that Hannibal was a true prophet. He immediately ordered a 
force to be collected so vast as to insure victory over the rash 
invaders, and dispatched Hannibal into Phoenicia to bring up 
reinforcements for the fleet. 

But the Roman commander ordered a Rhodian fleet to the 
coast of Caria to intercept Hannibal, and the brave islanders; 
performed this service with complete success : Hannibal's Phce- 
nician squadron was dispersed, and the Rhodians, combined with 
the Roman ships, attacked the Syrian fleet. A sharp conflict 
ensued off Myonnesus, a promontory of Lydia, in which the 
Syrian Admiral lost more than half his fleet, and left the sea at 
the command of the enemy. 

• § 14. The King had collected a vast army from all quarters. 
Besides his own people, he gathered levies from North and South. 
All kinds of men appeared in his ranks : Scythian and Galatian 
horsemen ; Persian riders clad in complete armour, man and 
horse ; scythed cars like those of the Western Celts ; Cretan 
slingers ; Arabian archers mounted on dromedaries ; Indian 
elephants to the number of forty-four.* Sixteen thousand men 
bore the redoubted name of the Phalanx ; and the elite of the 
army, like that of Alexander, were called Argyraspids ; but 

* The Romans had a few African elephants, an infenor kind. They first 
used elephants in the Macedonian war (Liv. sxsd. 36), but they never relied 
much on these animals. 



438 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. Book V. 

thougli the names and arms were Macedonian, tlie men were the 
men of Xerxes and Darius. 

With this host Antiochus ravaged the plains of Mysia and 
Lydia. Pergamus was bravely defended by Attains, the young 
King's brother, Eumenes himself being with the Roman army. 
Africanus, who was one of the Salian Priests of Mars, stayed in 
Europe for the due performance of certain solemn rites, while 
the army crossed the Hellespont. Soon after this, he was taken 
ill, and obliged to remain at Elaea, the seaport of Pergamus, 
while the army advanced towards the King's quarters at 
Thyatira. At the approach of the Romans, Antiochus fell back 
across the Hyllus, and encamped at Magnesia under Mount 
Sipylus. He was closely followed by the Consul, who also 
crossed the river, and took up a position within three miles of 
the King's camp. Still Antiochus declined an engagement, till 
he found that the Romans were preparing to attack him in his 
entrenchment. Then he drew out his vast army in battle order. 

§ 15. It is needless to give a detailed account of the battle. 
The Syrian army was three or four times as numerous as that of 
Scipio, who had invaded Asia with a common Consular army, 
supported by 3000 Achaeans, 800 men from Pergamus, and a few 
volunteers from Thrace and Macedonia ; but they were more 
than enough to defeat the Syrians. The King fled, leaving 53,000 
men upon the field. The Romans, it is said, lost no more than 
400. 

§ 16. By the single battle of Magnesia, Antiochus the Great 
lost all his conquests in Asia Minor. He did not deem himself 
safe till he reached Apamea, in the south of Phrygia, where he 
was joined by his son Seleucus and his chief counsellors. 
Hence he sent ambassadors to the Consul to treat fof peace. 
L. Scipio was at Sardis with his brother Africanus, who now 
took upon himself to dictate the terms. Antiochus was to give 
up all his possessions north of Mount Taurus ; and pay down 
a sum of 3000 talents, with a tribute of 1000 for twelve succeed- 
ing years. All his ships of war and elephants were to be given np 
for ever ; he was to abstain from all interference with European 
matters; he was not even allowed to hire mercenaries in Europe. 
The persons of Hannibal the Carthaginian and Thoas the -lEtolian, 
with some others, were to be surrendered to the Romans. 

§ 17. L. Scipio repaired straightway to Rome to enjoy his 
splendid but easy triumph. In imitation of his brother, he 
assumed the after-name of Asiaticus. The booty he had made 
was great beyond example, the sums he paid into the treasury 
enormous. The Macedonian and Syrian wars laid the foundation 
of those prodigious fortunes which afterwards distinguished the 



Chap. XL. SYRIAN WAR. 439 

Roman nobles, and introduced tliat gorgeous but barbaric luxury 
which, corrupted the manners of the whole people, and led to in- 
curable evils in the State. 

§ 18. The Senate now had leisure to punish the ^tolians. 
Soon after the departure of the Scipios for Asia, false reports 
reached Greece of successes gained by Antiochus, and the JEto- 
lians, flying to<=-arms, drove Philip from his late conquests to the 
west of Mount Pindus. On this news the Senate ordered M. 
Fulvius Nobilior, one of the Consuls for the year 189, to take 
the command in Greece, while his colleague, Cn. Manlius Vulso, 
succeeded L. Scipio in Asia. Fulvius immediately laid siege 
to Ambracia, while Perseus, the son of Philip, invaded .^tolia 
from the north, and the Achaeans from the south. Ambracia, 
a noble and well-fortified town, the ancient capital of Pyrrhus, 
was bravely defended ; but the ^tolian chiefs, finding their con- 
dition desperate, hastened to send a new embassy to Eome with 
full submission. Philip was now as anxious to annihilate the 
^tolians, as the JEtolians had formerly been eager to destroy 
him; but Flamininus had saved Philip from the ^tolians, and 
he now interfered to save the -^tolians from Philip. The Senate 
listened to his arguments, and allowed them to become the vas- 
sals of Rome. The Roman wars in Greece were now ended for 
some years. 

§ 19. Manlius, on arriving in Asia, was much disappointed by 
finding that the war had been finished by the battle of Magnesia, 
and that nothing remained but for the Cominissioners of the 
Senate who accompanied him to confirm the peace dictated by 
Afi'icanus, But he was too anxious for plunder and a triumph not 
to seek for war, and an occasion presented itself in the circum- 
stance that the Galatians had served in the ranks of the Syrian 
army at Magnesia. 

It has before been mentioned that Galatia was a district of 
JSTorthern Phrygia, which had been seized by a host of Gauls, who 
had been driven out of Greece about a century before. In the 
heart of Asia they retained their Celtic habits and names. By 
continual plundering they had amassed great stores of wealth. 

When the Consul advanced into the country, the Galatians re- 
tired into their mountain fastnesses, but without avail. In two 
great battles they were defeated by the Romans, and obliged to 
give up all their riches. From this time these Asiatic Gauls 
gradually became assimilated to the Greeks. 

§ 20. Manlius spent a second year as Proconsul in Asia Minor. 
In company with the ten Commissioners of the Senate, he re- 
ceived ambassadors from the various States, and distributed the 
possessions of Antiochus in Asia Minor according to a decree of 



440 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD, Book V 

tlie Senate. Eumenes of Pergamus was rewarded by the gift of 
Mysia, Lydia, Phrygia, and part of Caria, with those Thracian towns 
which Antiochus had abandoned. The rest of Caria, with Lycia 
and Pisidia, was given to the Ehodians. Caria and Lycia rightly 
belonged to Ptolemy Epiphanes, but that prince had oflfended the 
Senate by marrying a daughter of King Antiochus. 

§ 21. The Galatian war, insignificant as it was, became the root 
of great evils. It was the first time that a Roman General had 
ventured to make war without the authority of the Senate. Nay, 
the ten Commissioners had expressly forbidden the enterprise ; 
and when Manlius applied for a triumph, one of the ten opposed 
it warmly ; but there were too many young ofiicers in the Senate 
who looked forward to like opportunities, and the Consul was al- 
lowed to celebrate his triumph over the Galatians. His example 
was followed too often in after times. 



CHAPTER XL I. 

"WARS IN THE WEST CONTEMPORANEOUS "WITH THE MACEDONIAN AND 
SYRIAN WARS. (200 177 B.C.) 

§ 1. "Wars in Northern Italy : the Ligurians. § 2. Conquest of the Boians : 
Placentia and Cremona peopled anew : Colony of Bononia founded. § 3. 
Conquest of the ItaUan Ligurians. § 4. ^milian Road : Colonies of Mu- 
tiaa, Panna^ and Lucca : new Province of Cisalpine Gaul. § 5. Condition 
of the Spanish Peninsula. § 6. Conquest of Northern Spain by Cato. 
§ 1. Services and triumph of Cato. § 8. Continued troubles in Spain to tha 
Prsetorship of Tib. Gracchus. § 9. Reduction of Sardinia by Gracchus; 
Sardi venales. §10. Conquest of Istria : Colony of Aquileia. 

§ 1. While two or three Consuls were winning riches and hon-. 
ours in the East at an easy rate, others were engaged in the West 
with far more stubborn adversaries. Tedious wars with the bar- 
barians in Northern Italy, and with the brave tribes of Central 
Spain, offered little to attract greedy or ambitious Senators ; and 
yet in these districts many generals were compelled to keep watch 
and ward for years. 

It was about the year 200 b.c. that the Senate received news of 
a general rising in Northern Italy. The Gauls, who took part in 
the movement, were the old enemies of Rome — the Boians south 
of the Po, with the Insubrians and Cenoraannians on the far side 
of that great river. A new enemy was behind, the Ligurians, a 
wild people of uncertain race, who occupied the mountainous dis- 
trict of the Maritime Alps and Upper Apennines, from near the 
Rhone to the confines of Etruria. 

§ 2. Three campaigns sufiiced to reduce the Gallic tribes 
beyond the Po ; and the Boians, being left to carry on the con- 
flict single-handed, excited the Ligurians to renew their inroads. 
In 193 B.C., bands of these marauders appeared before Pisa and 
Placentia at once. But in 191, when Glabrio was forcing the 
Pass of Thermopylae, his colleague, P. Scipio Nasica, received the 
final submission of the Boians. They purchased peace at the 
price of half their territory ; but the half which remained was 
more than enough for their numbers, diminished by nine years' 
deadly war with Rome. In the next year (190), C. Lselius, dis- 
appointed of the command against Antiochus, was employed 
in settling the conquered country. The colonies of Placentia 
and Cremona, which had sufi'ered greatly since the time of 
Hannibal's first appearance in Italy, were re-peopled by 6000 
families of Roman and Latin citizens. Part of the confiscated 

19* 



442 CONQUEST OP THE WORLD. Book V- 

lands were assigned to a new colony at Felsina, which assumed the 
name of Bononia, or (as it is now called) Bologna. 

§ 3. But to subdue the Ligurians in their mountains required 
long years of desultory warfare. These nimble mountaineers, lean 
and sinewy in form, inured to hardship, unincumbered with bag- 
gage, acquainted with every bye-path and fastness in their native 
hills, carried on a sort of guerilla warfare, which the Romans found 
as difficult to deal with as regular armies have always found in 
similar cases. Whenever the enemy presented a front, they were 
sure to be defeated ; but even then the bulk of the force escaped by 
mountain paths, and met again in some well-known resort. Often 
they surprised careless or over-confident commanders, and cut off 
large bodies of Roman troops. But year after year the Roman 
columns penetrated further and further into the Ligurian fast- 
nesses. One tribe after another submitted. L. ^milius Paullus, 
son of him who fell at Cannse, himself destined to become one of 
Rome's most famous men, remained in Liguria with proconsular 
command for several years. In 180, he received the submission 
of two of their bravest tribes, the Ingaunians and Apuans ; and the 
last-named people, who marched with Etruria along the Macra, 
were transplanted into Samnium to the number of 40,000 souls, 
and their lands confiscated to the use of the Roman People. The 
war was virtually at an end, 

§ 4. The submission of Northern Italy was no doubt hast- 
ened by the construction of military roads. M. ^Emilius 
Lepidus, Consul for the year 180 b.c, the same who irritated 
Philip by his peremptory manner, constructed the great road 
which bore his name through the new colony of Bononia to 
Placentia, being a continuation of the Flaminian Way, or Great 
North Road, made by C Flaminius in 220 from Rome to Ari- 
minum ; while Flaminius, the son, being the colleague of Lepidus, 
made a branch road from Bononia across the Apennines to Arre- 
tium. Soon after, on the line of the JEmilian Road, between 
Bononia and Placentia, the Senate planted the colonies of Mutina 
(Modena) and Parma. The confiscated territory of the Apuans 
was assigned to the new colony of Lucca. Thus did Rome 
secure her conquests in the North as in the South. It was 
soon after these wars that the whole of Cisalpine Gaul with 
Italian Liguria was formed into a great Province, Avhich was 
always treated with favour, and proved one of the most valuable 
possessions of the Roman Empire. The Gallic towns became 
Latin in language and feeling, as well as in government ; and some 
notable Romans of later times, among whom may be named Livy 
the Historian, a Paduan by birth, sprang from the loins of these 
Latinised Celts. 



Chap. XLI. SPANISH WARS. 443 

§ 5. We must now follow the tide of Eoman conquest in the 
Spanisli Peninsula, That part of Spain which had been con- 
quered by Scipio was divided into two Provinces, known as His- 
pania Citerior and Ulterior, each being ruled by a Praetor or 
Proconsul. But these Provinces in fact included only a small 
portion of the Peninsula. Hither Spain ran along the coast south- 
ward to a point beyond Carthagena, its western boundary being 
as yet indeterminate : Further Spain contained little more than 
modern Andalusia. The rest of Spain was still unconquered. The 
Celtiberians, a brave race, who inhabited the chief parts of Cas- 
tillo, dwelt in numerous cities strong both by nature and art. The 
Lusitanians, who occupied the mountainous districts of Western 
Spain and Portugal, between the Douro and Guadiana, were shep- 
herds or guerillas as the case required ; now tending their flocks 
on the hill-sides, now making armed forays into the heart of the 
Further province. The Gallsecians and Cantabrians, between the 
Douro and the Bay of Biscay, had as yet scarcely heard of the 
Eoman name. 

§ 6. The formation of Spanish Provinces took place apparently 
in 198 B.C., when we first hear of six Praetors, two being destined 
to govern Spain. A general outbreak followed, and may be attri- 
buted to the fear entertained by the Spaniards that the Eomans 
meditated the eventual conquest of all their tribes. When M. Por- 
cius Cato, Consul in the year 195 b.c, entered on office, he was 
dispatched at once to the Hither province to subdue the insurrec- 
tion. This remarkable man had already distinguished himself as 
a Legionary Tribune under Fabius in the Hannibalic War, and 
had served as Quaestor under the great Scipio in Sicily, We have 
also recorded, by anticipation, the glory he won by turning the 
Pass of Thermopylae in the campaign of Glabrio. But his military 
famq chiefly depends upon his operations in Spain. 

When he landed at Emporiae (Ampurias), he found the whole 
country, up to the very walls of this place, in arms ; nay, the 
Spaniards of Emporiae itself were only prevented by the presence 
of a Eoman garrison from joining their countrymen. He gave 
proof of his determined temper by dismissing the speculators who 
usually contracted to supply the army with victuals ; " for," said 
he, " I will make the war support itself," He spent some time in 
training his troops for the desultory warfare of the Spaniards, oc- 
casionally dashing into the country occupied by the enemy, and 
inuring his men to every hardship. He shared all privations with 
the common soldiers, and won their affection by his blunt man- 
ners and rough jests. Sometimes he rode through the ranks, 
armed with a rude countryman's javelin, called sparus, and chas- 
tised offenders not over gently with his own hand. 



444 CONQUEST OF THE WOKLD. Book V. 

When this training had lasted long enough to give the General 
and his men confidence in each other, Cato led them forth to 
attack the Spaniards, who were encamped in force near Emporise. 
He fell unexpectedly on their rear, and defeated them with great 
slaughter. Profiting by the terror thus inspired, he penetrated 
into all the mountain valleys from the Ebro to Carthagena, and 
executed merciless vengeance on those who resisted. To the 
rapid military movements by which he terrified his opponents, he 
added a diplomatic trick, which shows the disconnected condition 
of the tribes he had to deal with. To the chiefs of every strong 
place in Northern Spain he addressed letters, commanding them, 
on pain of suff"ering Roman vengeance, to dismantle their fortifica- 
tions, and took care that every letter should be delivered on or 
about the same day. Each chief supposed the order was addressed 
to himself alone ; and each, fearing Cato's severity for himself, 
obeyed the order. 

§ Y. Thus in a few weeks Cato reduced the whole Northern 
province to submission. No doubt he committed great atrocities. 
Numbers fell by the sword ; more still were taken and sold as 
slaves : many, to avoid this fate, put themselves to death. But no 
Roman General hesitated to use harsh measures ; no one thought 
of censuring him for doing so. 

After his operations in the North, he made an excursion into 
the Southern province, and by his presence assisted the Praetor in 
repelling the assaults of the Lusitanians, so that Cato had some 
reason for his boast, that he had pacified the whole of Spain. He 
returned to Rome laden with booty and honour. It must be men- 
tioned to his credit, that he reserved no large share of plunder for 
himself, though he bestowed a handsome largess on each of his 
soldiers. " Better," he said, " that many men should have plenty 
of silver, than that one man should have plenty of gold." 

The Senate were so well satisfied with his successes that they 
decreed a Thanksgiving of Three Days ; and the triumph which 
he celebrated was the first which Rome had witnessed since the 
triumph of Scipio over Hannibal. It was happy for Cato's vanity 
that Flamininus returned home a few weeks later, or the glory of 
the Spanish triumph would have been eclipsed by the greater 
splendour of the Macedonian. 

§ 8. It is however probable that the measures taken by Cato 
for the future government of the Spanish provinces sowed the 
seeds of future evil. He laid regular taxes and imposts on the 
Spanish subjects of Rome, and confiscated as State-property the 
mines of silver and gold, which in those days made Spain an 
object of contention. It was foreseen by Scipio that the mea- 
sures of Cato would irritate the Spaniards; and his apprehen- 



Chap. XLI. LIGUEIAN AND GALLIC WAR. 445 

sions were justified. For the next sixteen years Rome was en- 
gaged in continual wars with the Spaniards. But in the year 
IVO B.C., sixteen years after the Consulship of Cato, the limits of 
the Upper Province were settled, and a general pacification 
brought about. This happy result was due to Tib. Sempronius 
Gracchus, father of the famous Gracchi. He was himself a man 
of ability and courage, and ruled with %moderation little known 
and less valued among Romans. Many communities who had 
been deprived of home and land, received new settlements, for 
which they were required to pay certain yearly dues, and to per- 
form military service at the order of the Roman Governor. No 
city was henceforth to fortify itself without the consent of Rome. 
In other respects they were allowed to govern themselves without 
interference. Such is all that we know of the famous pacification 
of Gracchus. 

§ 9. Here may be added a notice of some other conquests made 
by Rome in this same period. The Sardinians and Corsicans, who 
had first risen against Rome in the Second Punic War, again ap- 
peared in arms about the year 181 B.C., for what cause or with 
what justice we know not. This petty war continued, till after his 
return from Spain Tib. Gracchus obtained the Consulship. His 
vigorous hand soon checked the insurrection ; and after an absence 
of two years he celebrated a triumph over the islanders. His mea- 
sures do not seem to have been marked with the same forbearance 
which distinguished him in Spain ; for so great was the number 
of prisoners brought home and sold that the slave-market was 
glutted, and " Sardinians for sale" became a proverbial expression 
for anything that was cheap and common."* 

§ 10. The conquest of the northern shores of the Adriatic 
took place about the same time. In the year 183 e.g., a son of 
the great Marcellus, being Consul for the year, had occasion to 
march into Venetia to repel a threatened irruption of the Celtic 
tribes from the north. Having efi:ected his purpose with little dif- 
ficulty, he wrote to the Senate to point out the great advantage 
which the Republic would derive from the possession of the penin- 
sula between the modern towns of Trieste and Fiume, which then 
as now bore the name of Istria ; and without waiting for a reply 
from the Government, he invaded the country. The Senate sanc- 
tioned his unprovoked attack ; and, soon after, possession was 
secured by the Latin colony of Aquileia, which became a place of 
great importance as a barrier against the northern barbarians. 
When it was destroyed by Attila, from its ashes rose the famous 
city of Venice. 

* " Sardi venales," Liv. xl. 19. 




Tomb of the Scipios, as restored by Canina. 



CHAPTER XLII. 



CIVIL HISTORY DURING THE MACEDONIAN AND SYRIAN WARS : COR- 
RUPTION OF MANNERS : SENATORIAL PREDOMINANCE : SCIPIO AND 

CATO. (200 — 169 B.C.) 

§ 1. General inclination to War caused by the conquests in the East. § 2. 
Change in the character of the Eoman armies. § 3. Evil effects of war on the 
social condition of Romans. § 4. Rapid rise of the new Nobility of wealth : 
its oUgarchical tendency. § 5. Evil effects of sudden wealth on manners 
and morals. § 6. Bribery. § V. Evidence of profligacy : L. Elamininus : 
Bacchanalia : Poisoning by women. § 8. State of parties in the Senate : 
Scipio. § 9. Cato leader of the attack on Scipio : his previous life. § 10. 
Cato's bitterness against Greek fashions. § 11. L. Scipio required to pro- 
duce his accounts : conduct of P. Scipio : he is indicted before the People : 
his reply. § 12. New attack upon P. Scipio, diverted to Lucius: arrest 
of the latter prevented first by the armed interference of his brother, then 
by the intercession of Tib. Gracchus. § 13. Retirement and death of 
Scipio. § 14. Death of Hannibal in the same year. § 15. Cato turns upon 
the Senatorial party : his election to the Censorship. § 16. Severity of his 
Censorial administration. § IT. Character. 

§ 1. Though it was witli great difficulty that the citizens were 
induced to consent to the Macedonian War, to the Senators war 



Chap. XLII. CHANGE IN CHARACTER OF ARMIES. 447 

was welcome even at that time of extreme depression. By 
commands, embassies, and commissions to foreign courts, they 
expected to find means of repairing their past losses and enrich- 
ing themselves ; and they were not mistaken. And after the 
wars in the East a great change seems to have wrought in the 
feelings of the People 'also. The yeomen of Italy saw their 
brethren returning home laden with booty. A royal road to 
riches is always thronged, and we hear no more of disinclination 
to declare Avar. It was seldom necessary to resort to the Census- 
roll for compulsory enlistment. The Legions were filled by 
volunteers. 

§ 2. A great change now began to be introduced into the con- 
stitution of the Eoman armies. During the Punic Wars, it had 
often been found impossible to dismiss the Legions levied for tbe 
year after the year's campaign was over. And what bad hitherto 
been the exception now became the rule. A general usually 
kept the men who first took service under him during his whole 
command, and often banded them over to his successor. Thus 
the old militia of the Republic changed its character, and a race 
of professional soldiers came into being. There was not, indeed, 
a standing army in our sense of the word. The soldiery were 
not so much servants of the State, as attached to the person of 
a successful general, whom they regarded as their patron. This 
new state of things reached its height under Marius and Csesar ; 
but it took its origin witb Scipio. Scipio was refused by the 
Senate the levies which he deemed necessary for the invasion of 
Africa, and he raised volunteers on his own credit. These men 
were rewarded with grants of land in Southern Italy. But their 
swords were at the command of any leader who offered a chance 
of fresh booty. Many enlisted for service in the Macedonian 
and Syrian Wars. This tendency to regard a soldier's business 
as a profession, rather than as the occasional duty of a citizen, 
received a great impulse from the invasion of Galatia by Cn. 
Manlius Yulso. From this time Livy dates the greedy and 
licentious spirit which marked the Roman soldiery of his own 
time, as it has marked soldiers of fortune in all times. 

§ 3. Thus the lust of conquest became general. The Senate 
had now no difficulty in carrying war-votes. Wars were no 
longer defensive, even in pretence. Increase of empire was 
the hardly-concealed motive of action. The most detestable 
practices were employed to create intestine dissensions in all 
countries, to encourage one potentate against another, to 
provoke quiet and independent States by acts of intolerable 
arrogance, to bring about by what means soever an appeal to 
Roman arbitration. Senatorial commissions were continually 



448 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. BOOK V. 

crossing the sea to Greece and Asia, to Carthage and Egypt. 
Diplomatic acts of the basest kind were becoming part of the 
profession of Senator. The rude simplicity of the old Eoman 
character was degenerating into brutal arrogance, or was used as a 
cloak for the meanest and most hypocritical ends. 

§ 4. The Senate itself was every day becoming more confined 
and oligarchical. We have before shown how the superior ofiices 
of the State were barred against men of moderate fortune. The 
old distinctions of blood had ceased: in the year 173 b.c. both 
Consuls were Plebeian. But a new Nobility was rising, consist- 
ing of the wealthy Senatorial families. Here wealth was the 
mother of wealth : ' a family once ennobled by ofiice had so 
many opportunities of making money, that every day it became 
more difiicult for an upstart or New Man (as persons were called 
whose progenitors had not held ofiice) to make his way to the 
Consulship, or even into the Senate. Those who could place in 
their vestibules or carry out to funerals the greatest number 
of the images of ancestors distinguished by ofiice were the most 
noble. The Senate was fast becoming an oligarchical council, 
almost hereditary in certain families. 

§ 5. It will readily be perceived how fatal must have been the 
influence exercised on manners and morals by these changes. It 
has been said with melancholy truth that at the moment when 
the history of the Republic begins to extend itself so as to 
embrace the whole civilised world, it loses all its moral in- 
terest. The Romans before their conquests were (as Ave have 
seen) a hardy, thrifty, self-denying, and religious race, but 
withal ignorant, rude, destitute of common charity and humanity 
in their dealings with foreigners. When enormous wealth and 
power are suddenly placed in the hands of such a people, the 
results are certain. The proverbs of every nation testify to the 
arrogance and vices of rich upstarts ; and the Romans were no 
exceptions to the rule. They were miich in the condition of 
savages exposed to the first influences of civilisation,' who eagerly 
imbibe its new vices, and retain their own grossness. 

The Roman historians with one voice concur in these repre- 
sentations. "The great Scipio," says Velleius with pregnant 
brevity, " opened the way to empire ; his brother to luxury." 
"The Asiatic army," says Livy, "first introduced among us 
couches of rich workmanship, cloths of delicate texture, and all 
kinds of costly furniture. They set the fashion of sumptuous 
banquets, at which the guests were at once regaled with the 
choicest viands and charmed with voluptuous music. Cooks, 
who had formerly been the cheapest kind of slave, now became 
the most valuable." 



Chap. XLII. DEPRAVITY OF WOMEN". 449 

§ 6. The effect of the rapidly increasing wealth on political 
morality is proved by the frequent laws against Bribery at Elec- 
tions, which may be dated from the year 181 B.C.* 

§ 1. Some incidents have been preserved which prove the 
rising profligacy. Lucius Flamiiiinus, brother of the famous 
Titus, Avas elected Consul in 192 b.c, and sent to Cisalpine Gaul. 
He had lately bought a beautiful Carthaginian boy, who indulged 
in loud complaints at being taken away from Rome just before 
the exhibition of the great gladiatorial games. Soon after the 
Consul reached his province, a Gallic chieftain fled with his 
family to seek for protection in the Roman camp. The fugitive 
was brought to the Consul's tent, where he Avas feasting with 
his unworthy minion. " Now," said Lucius, " you shall be re- 
warded for not seeing the gladiators ;" and, at a sign, one of the 
attendants stabbed the suppliant, that his dying agonies might 
amuse the cruel boy. 

A sure sign of corruption is to be found in the dissolute 
manners that were discovered among the women. In 186 b.c, 
the Consul Posthumius was accidentally informed that there 
were not only in Rome, but in many Italian towns, secret 
societies, in which young men and women were dedicated to 
Bacchus ; and that, under the cloak of religious ceremony, every 
kind of licence and debauchery was practised. The Senate 
issued a stringent Decree for the repression of Bacchanalian orgies. 
Numbers of men were put to death ; the women were handed over 
to the heads of their respective families, for the law did not permit 
the public execution of a female. 

§ 8. The state of parties in the Senate in the earlier part of 
this period is singular. When Scipio returned to Rome as the 
conqueror of Hannibal, he was saluted by the people as the 
saviour of Italy. He might then have put himself at the head 
of a popular party, and crushed the ascendancy lately gained by 
the Senate. He had been elected Consul against the will of 
the Senatorial majority; he had won his Triumph by setting 
their known opinion at defiance. He was the idol of the People. 
It was proposed to set up his statue in the Forum, in the Comi- 
tium, in the Senate-house, on the Capitol, in the very Temple of 
Jupiter. Nay, there was a general wish to make him Dictator for 
life, in the hope that by the same vigour and address which had 
marked his military career he might put an end to the social evils, 
the debt, the misery which followed the dreadful Hannibalic War. 

* There were earlier laws de Ambitu ; but these were intended by the 
Nobility to check the New Men from canvassing. Now canvassing and bribery 
became synonymous, and were expressed by the same word — Ambitus. 



450 CONQUEST OP THE WORLD. Book Y. 

Scipio was still in the prime of life, not more than thirty-five 
years of age. But he had no taste for the cares and toils of a 
party-leader. He put aside the honours oftered him with the 
same calm disdain with which he had declined the crown offered 
him by the Celtiberians. It is always difiicult for a soldier who 
,from early years has held high command to acquire the tact 
necessary for managing the war of parties. Hannibal, indeed, 
had shown himself as able in statesmanship as in war ; but it 
was by the despotic method of the camp. He was backed by 
his veterans ; by their aid he made himself master of Carthage, 
and ruled it with imperial sway. Scipio might perhaps have 
done the same at Rome. But he was not like Hannibal. He 
used to say, that "he was never less alone than when alone," 
so fond was he of literature and art. Those who were intimate 
with him loved him dearly. But he never concealed a certain 
proud indifference for opinion, whether of the Senate or the 
people, which soon dimmed his popularity. He cared not for this. 
He preferred the society of the poet Ennius to the applause of the 
people or the favour of the Senate. 

In 199 B.C., he was chosen Censor; his friendly colleague, Q. 
^lius Psetus, named him Chief of the Senate, and he retained 
this high rank till the Censorship of Cato in 184, one year before 
his death. In 193, he held the Consulship for a second time, 
and his popularity received a mortal blow from his own hand. 
The Censors of that year proposed to appropriate the front places 
in the Theatre to the Senatorial Order, and Scipio supported the 
proposal. 

But it was not till after his return from Asia that his enemies 
ventured to attack him openly. Those enemies were no doubt 
the leaders of the old Senatorial party. But the person who led 
the assault bore the famous name of Cato. 

§ 9. M. Porcius Cato was born at the provincial town of Tus- 
culum in the same year with the great Scipio : they were both 
seventeen years of age when Hannibal crossed the Alps. Cato's 
patrimony lay in the Sabine country, near the humble dwelling 
once occupied by the great Curius Dentatus. The youth looked 
with reverence on the hearth at which Curius was roasting his 
radishes when he rejected the Samnite gold, and resolved to 
make the rustic hero his model. He used to work with his 
slaves, wearing the same coarse dress, and partaking of the same 
simple fare. His natural power of speaking he exercised by 
pleading in the law-courts of the neighbouring town. His 
shrewd remarks passed current in the country ; and the fame of 
the youthful orator reached the ears of L. Valerius Flaccus, a 
young nobleman of the neighbourhood, himself a determined 



Chap. XUI. SCIPIO ATTACKED BY CATO. 451 

friend of the ancient Roman manners. Flaccus had discern- 
ment enough to see what was in Cato ; he became his friend, 
and persuaded him to go to Rome, there to enter on a public hfe. 
The honourable intimacy thus begun continued throughout life. 
Flaccus and Cato were colleagues in almost every office of State. 

Cato at once attached himself to the party of Fabius, who at 
that time dispensed all the honours of the Republic. He served 
under the old General at Capua and at Tarentum : and being 
elected Quaestor in 205 B.C., was sent with Scipio to Sicily. 
When Cato returned to Rome, the favour of the old Senatorial 
party, and the popularity he had won by unabashed self-con- 
fidence, blunt bearing, and caustic eloquence, enabled him to 
gain the highest honours with little difficulty. He was Prsetor 
in Sardinia in 198 B.C., at the age of thirty-seven, and gained 
credit by the uprightness of his administration, though he was 
thought too severe against the practice of usury. He was 
Consul in his fortieth year ; and we have already followed his 
able conduct of the Spanish war. Four years later he returned 
to Rome with the dispatch announcing the victory of Thermopylae, 
which he himself had mainly contributed to gain. 

§ 10. Such Avas the man who, in the year 187 b.c, led the 
attack upon Scipio. From his first connexion with Fabius, he 
had formed an inveterate hatred against his patron's rival ; and 
as Scipio was the leader of the new Hellenic manners, so Cato 
constituted himself as the protector of the old Roman life. 

Cato seems to have thought that all evil was due to the 
introduction of Greek customs. No doubt Greece was at that 
time fast verging to that miserable state in which she still 
lies. But the corruption of Rome would have followed, if 
there had been no Greece to corrupt. The vices for which 
Romans became notorious were not Hellenic. It was not 
part of the nature of Greeks to spend large sums in glut- 
tonous eating and coarse sensuality. Pericles boasted that his 
countrymen cultivated their taste for the beautiful without extra- 
vagance :* and the same might be said of their pleasures ; they 
are and were a frugal race. No doubt the quick-witted and un- 
scrupulous Greeks who, as slaves or freedmen, thronged the 
houses of the Roman nobles, were more adroit ministers of vice 
than the duller natives of other lands ; but they obeyed rather 
than guided the propensities of their masters ; and it must not 
be forgotten that the philosophers, statesmen, and artists of 
Greece flocked to Rome, as well as her parasites and pandars. 
Those who cultivated Greek letters and art were the noblest 

* (hiTiOKaXovf^ev uet' evTeXeiac, Thuc. ii. 40. 



452 CONQUEST OP THE WORLD. Book Y. 

sons of Rome. — Scipio himself, Lepidus, Paullus, and the like. 
The second Scipio, was, as we shall see, trained by the precepts and 
friendship of a Greek statesman. 

§ 11. The first attack upon Scipio' was judiciously made 
through his brother Asiaticus, who was required by the Tribune 
Petillius to produce an account of receipts and expenditure 
during his Asiatic command. Africanus bade his brother fetch 
the books, and then taking them from his hands tore them in 
fragments before the Senate, saying that " it was unworthy to 
call a man to account for a few thousands who had paid millions 
into the Treasury." This contemptuous disregard of opinion 
and law was now made the ground of accusation against Scipio 
himself. On other occasions he had been guilty of similar 
acts of arrogance. When the Quaestors refused to pay him 
certain moneys without an order from the Senate, he had taken 
the keys by force, saying that " one who had closed the Trea- 
sury by his successes had the best right to open it." These 
and other instances of contempt were brought before the People. 
Scipio rose to answer. He took no notice of the charges laid 
against him, but gave a simple history of his life and ser- 
vices. The glory of the man revived; the memory of old times 
returned ; all hearts yearned again towards him who had driven 
the fell African from the shores of Italy ; the sun set before the 
Assembly had passed to a vote. Next day was the anniversary 
of the battle of Zama. Scipio appeared in a festal robe, escorted 
by a splendid retinue of friends and followers. " Romans," he 
said, " on this day I defeated Hannibal. I am on my way to the 
Capitol to render thanks to the great gods of the city. Follow 
me, Romans, and pray to those gods that you may always have 
leaders such as I am." The effect of these words was electrical. 
The multitude rose with one accord, and followed the hero up 
the Sacred Ascent. The Tribune was left alone with his at- 
tendants. 

§ 12. This was the last day of Scipio's greatness. The cool 
animosity of Cato pursued him with untiring zeal, and another 
Tribune was urged to renew the prosecution. On the day 
appointed the great man did not appear : he had left Rome. 
His brother Asiaticus alleged sickness as the cause of absence, 
and prayed for an adjournment. After some question, the plea 
was allowed ; but the accusers turned upon the advocate. This 
was politic. It is not likely that a vote of condemnation could 
have been obtained against Africanus : his character .was un- 
blemished, and late events had shown that the memory of the 
past was not dead ; but Asiaticus was not above suspicion. It 
was said that of the Syrian spoils a large sum due to the Trea~ 



Chap. Xi.n. CATO. 453 

sury had found its way into his private coffers, and the scene in 
the Senate-house confirmed the belief. 

So soon as Africanus heard of the proceedings against his 
brother, he hastened to Rome, and reached the Forum in time to 
see his person seized by the oflficers of the Tribune. He was 
followed by an armed retinue, and rescued Lucius by force from 
their custody. It seemed as if now there was to be a beginning 
of those bloody frays which disgraced the city in later times ; 
but this dire extremity was averted by a Tribune who had as 
yet taken no part in the business. This was Tib. Sempronius 
Gracchus, whom we have already seen so honourably distin- 
guished for humanity in Spain. " He did not interfere," he said, 
" from any wish to thwart the action of law. He was still, as he 
had ever been, an enemy of the Scipios ; but rather than per- 
mit domestic war, he would himself bar the arrest of L. Scipio. 
It was better that the will of the People should be frustrated by 
one of their own Tribunes than by the arrogance of a private 
citizen." He then forbade all further attempts to seize the person 
of Asiaticus. 

§ 13. The great Scipio felt that his name could no longer work 
like a spell upon the people. He retired to his villa at Liternum, 
where he lived some years longer in retirement ; and when he 
found his end approaching, he ordered himself to be buried there. 
" Ungrateful city !" he said, " thou shalt not even have my ashes." 
The, three statues of himself, his brother, and the poet Ennius, 
which stood outside the Capuan Gate at Rome, were placed over 
a sepulchral vault built by the heir of his name and fame, the 
younger Africanus. He died in the year 183 e.g., in the fifty- 
fourth year of his age, though the fine bust still preserved bears 
the appearance of an older man.* He was too lordly to be the 
useful citizen of a Republic, too generous to become her master. 
His later career threw a shadow over services which were worth 
more to Rome than those of any other of her sons. 

§ 14. In the self-same year Hannibal breathed his last. After 
the loss of his last hope by the destruction of the Syrian host at 
Magnesia, he wandered from land to land till he found a resting- 
place at the Court of Prusias of Bithynia. The Senate could 
not breathe while their great enemy lived ; and Flamininus was 
sent to demand from Prusias the person of his illustrious guest. 
The King dared not say nay, and gave Hannibal to understand 
that he must be surrendered to Flamininus; but the great 
Carthaginian, to avoid falling into the hands of his implacable 

* It was discovered with that of Ennius, in the Tomb. The Tomb is 
figured at the head of this Chapter, the bust of Scipio at the head of Chapt. 
xxxiv., that of Ennius at the end of Chapt. xxxvii. 



454 CONQUEST OP THE WORLD. Book V. 

foes, swallowed a dose of poison, which, according to the com- 
mon story, he carried with him constantly in the hollow of a 
ring. He was sixty-three years of age. Life had long ceased to 
be valuable to him, because opposition to Rome had become hope- 
less. He died, as he lived, faithful to the service of that aveng- 
ing deity to whom he had been bound in boyhood by his father 
Hamilcar. 

§ 15. The fall of Scipio threw all power into the hands of 
the old Senatorial party. The names of the Gentes friendly to 
Scipio nearly disappear, for a season, from the Fasti. The 
noble -i3l]milius Paullus, who had rendered signal services to 
the State in Liguria and in Spain, was unable to obtain the Con- 
sulship till a late age. But Cato no longer held by this party. 
His first connection with them arose from the fact that they 
represented his old patron, Fabius. They had supported Cato 
up to his Consulship, because he was a useful hound to run 
down Scipio ; but when he offered himself for the Censorship 
in 189, they used all their influence against him, and he was 
defeated. They knew well that he was a sworn friend of the old 
Roman rusticity, and would not tolerate their vulgar luxuries 
any more than the refined elegance of Scipio ; and now that his 
personal animosity to that great enemy was gratified, they 
apprehended that he might turn and rend them. This was the 
period of Cato's greatness. The Forum rang with his voice ; 
his bitter gibes and caustic sarcasms were repeated everywhere ; 
the People began to recognise him as their champion. At the 
next election of Censors (185), he again came forward, with his 
friend Flaccus by his side ; and though they were opposed by seven 
distinguished candidates, the favour of the People prevailed, and 
the two friends were elected. 

§ 16. Cato was now in full possession of the immense arbitrary 
powers wielded by the Censor, and determined to put down luxury 
with a strong hand. He had thundered against the repeal of the 
Oppian law during his Consulship, but in vain, — the ladies were 
too strong for him. But now it was his turn. Hitherto no 
property had been included in the Censor's register, except land 
and houses. Cato ordered all valuable slaves to be rated at three 
times the amount of other property, and laid a heavy tax on 
the dress and equipages of the women, if they exceeded a certain 
sum. He struck seven Senators off the list, some for paltry 
causes. Manilius was degraded for kissing his wife in public; 
another for an unseasonable jest ; but all honest men must have 
applauded when L. Flamininus sufi"ered. At the great review of the 
Knights he deprived L. Scipio of his horse. 

In the management of public works, Cato showed judgment 



Chap. XLII. CATO. 455 

equal to his vigour. He provided for the repair of the aqueducts 
and reservoirs, and took great pains to amend the drainage of the 
city. He encouraged a fair and open competition for the con- 
tracts of tax- collection, and so much offended the powerful com- 
panies of Publicani, that after he laid down- his office he was 
prosecuted, and compelled to pay a fine of 12,000 ases. • 

§ 17. It is manifest also that Cato had given quite a new sig- 
nificance to the Censorial office. The fearless onslaught made 
by him on all abuses had stirred up a nest of hornets. Forty- 
four times he wa§ accused before the people, yet except on one 
occasion he always came oft" free. More familiar to us than almost 
any of the great men of Rome, we see him with his keen gray 
eyes and red hair, his harsh features and spare athletic frame, 
strong by natural constitution and hardened by exercise, clad 
even at Rome in the coarsest rustic garb, attacking with plain but 
nervous eloquence the luxury and corruption of the Nobles. 
Yet Cato was no demagogue ; indeed, in his way he was as 
haughty as any noble in the land. His mind Avas of that hard 
and narrow kind, that when he had formed opinions or conceived 
prejudices, nothing could move him. In private business he was 
ruled by calculation solely. He was a great farmer : his book on 
agriculture is still in our hands, and contains a curious mixture of 
shrewd sense, calculating selfishness, and superstitious fancies. 
He encouraged pasturage as the most profitable employment of 
land in Italy. He condemned usury as a crime only less bad than 
murder, and yet evaded the law which forbade Senators to engage 
in trade by lending his money to the trading companies. He 
advised a farmer to sell off" such of his slaves as might become 
useless from age or infirmity. His self-sufficiency was intolerable. 
He was one of those men who having done everything for them- 
selves, have come to think themselves infallible. The Sabine 
farmer made himself a perpetual Censor, and would f^jn have laid 
down the law for every one. 




Coin of Perseus. 



CHAPTEE XLIII. 

THE THIRD MACEDONIAN WAR, OR WAR OP PERSEUS. (180 168 B.C.) 

§ 1. Prudence and energy of Philip. § 2. A Commission sent to check 
Philip. § 3. His son Demetrius sent to Rome: Philip forgiven "for his 
son's sake." § 4. Imprudence of Demetrius : Perseus. § 5. Philip's pre- 
parations and plans. § 6. Murder of Demetrius and death of Philip: 
Perseus. § V. Measures of Perseus. § 8. Eumenes accuses him at Rome: 
attempt upon the life of Eumenes. § 9. "War declared against Perseus : 
he is deceived by Phdlippus. § 10. Resources of Perseus. § 11. First and 
second campaigns: end in favour of Perseus. § 12. Discontent through- 
out Greece. § 13. Third Campaign: Q. Marcius Philippus: weakness of 
Perseus. § 14. Fourth Campaign: L. ^milius Paullus. § 15. Severe 
measures of Paullus in the army. § 16. Perseus falls back to Pydna: 
Eclipse of Moon. § 1*7. Battle of Pydna. § 18. Perseus surrenders. 
§ 19. Settlement of Macedonia. § 20. Greece: Massacre of Epirotes. 
§ 21. Triumph of Paullus. § 22. Death of his sons. § 23. Great increase 
of Revenue. § 24. Fate of Perseus. 

§ 1. Philip had of late shown complete submission to Rome; 
but he was secretly engaged in improving the internal resources 
of Macedon. For a time his ungovernable temper was controlled 
by prudence. He organised an improved system of taxation : he 
established a regular mode of working the gold mines of Mount 
Pangseus, which had supplied treasure to his great predecessor 
Philip the Second.* He replenished his wasted population by 
large draughts of brave barbarians from Thrace. He formed an 
alliance with Prusias of Bithynia, the enemy of Eumenes. He 
ventured to seize -i^nos and Maroneia, two Thracian cities lately 
evacuated by Antiochus. 

* See Dr. Smith's History of Greece, Chapt. xlii. § 1. 



Chap. XLIII. THIRD MACEDONIAN WAR. 457 

§ 2, Reports of this activity were soon transmitted to Eome 
by Eumenes, and the Senate sent a Commission of inquiry. 

Philip was summoned to appear before them at Tempo, and 
the proud monarch complied. But when he found that he was 
to be stripped of all his Thessalian possessions, his assumed 
calmness gave way, and he broke into an angry threat. " The 
sun," he said, " had not quite set yet." The complaints of ^nos 
and Maroneia were reserved for the judgment of the Senate. 
Philip, however, feeling very sure what that judgment would be, 
resolved to gratify his vengeance, and ordered a general massacre 
of the wretched Maroneians. The king was immediately desired 
to send the authors of the massacre for trial at Eome. He be- 
came much alarmed, and despatched his younger son Demetrius, 
who had lived for four years as a hostage at Rome, to make inter- 
cession in his behalf. 

§ 3. The mission of Demetrius was the beginning of great 
misery to his father. The young man was received by the 
Senate in the most flattering manner. But, at the same time, 
they encouraged every complaint against Philip. Fugitives 
^{etailed the horrors of the massacre at Maroneia. And when 
Demetrius stood forth in the Senate-house to offer a defence for 
his father, the Chief of the Senate cut him short by asking 
whether he had no written instructions. The young prince 
incautiously produced papers, drawn up with the freedom which 
Philip was likely to use in a confidential memorandum. Upon 
this, the Senate at once gave judgment against him ; " but," it 
was added, " they would forgive him for the sake of Demetrius. 
They would only require that he should withdraw from Thessaly 
and Thrace ; but he must remember that he owed this forbearance 
entirely to the young prince his son." 

§ 4. The rest of Philip's life was embittered by family in- 
trigues. Demetrius was the favourite of the Macedonians ; and 
even where there is no positive reason, suspicion is apt to grow 
up between an aged king and the popular heir to the crown. 
Such suspicion was, not without cause, aggravated by the honours 
paid to Demetrius at Rome, and by the foolish fondness shown 
by the young prince for everything Roman. There was, more- 
over, an eye watching the young prince with more of jealousy 
than even Philip was likely to feel. Perseus, the King's elder 
son, was born of a concubine. He was reserved in manner, and 
far less popular than Demetrius. He gained his father's ear, and 
led him to behave that Demetrius was endeavouring to antici- 
pate the course of nature in gaining possession of the crown. 
The young prince was committed to the custody of Didas, 
Governor of Pa3onia; and two confidential ministers were sent 

20 



,458 CONQUEST OP THE WORLD. Book Y. 

to Eome in order to ascertain the trutk of the suspicions raised 
by Perseus. 

§ 5. Meanwhile, the King silently continued his preparations. 
Every day, it is said, he had the treaties he had signed with 
Borne read over to him, to remind him of the duty of revenge. 
Filled with jealousy and suspicion, he put many of his great 
nobles to death, and imprisoned their sons, quoting the line of 
Homer, which says, that it is but foolish work to slay the father 
and spare the child.* He endeavoured to balance the suspected 
fidelity of the Macedonians by transporting whole families into 
Emathia, and replacing them by Thracians, who held their lands 
by military service. He formed a bold scheme for employing 
Rome, by inducing the Bastarnians, a people who inhabited the 
country afterwards called Moesia, to exterminate the Dardanians 
and seize their territory, and then, leaving their families there, 
to pour into Italy by the northern end of the Adriatic. It was 
no doubt in connection with this great plan, that he made a toui- 
to the passes of Hsemus (the Balkan), of which Livy speaks in 
language that we might use of a person visiting the regions of 
Siberia, 

§ 6. On his return gloomy news awaited him. Didas, under 
pretence of sympathy, had led Demetrius to form and to confess 
a scheme for flying to Italy and claiming the protection of the 
Senate. The envoys had come from Eome with what seemed to 
confirm all that Philip or Perseus had suspected ; they were the 
bearers of letters purporting to be written by Flamininus, and 
urging the young prince to the worst extremities of treason. The 
unhappy father, who had long wished to disbelieve, signed an 
order for his son's death. Didas attempted to take him ofi" by 
poison ; but the unfortunate young man detected the attempt, and 
was suffocated with brutal violence. 

" This event took place in 179 b.c. The old King did not long 
survive. He discovered that the letters of Flamininus were 
forged, and it is said that he meditated disinheriting Perseus. 
But mortal sickness overtook him at Amphipolis. Perseus, 
informed of his father's state, hastened to Pella, and was pro- 
claimed King before others knew of Philip's death. 

The great abihties possessed by Philip were always shown on 
emergencies. But ordinarily his savage passions deprived him 
of the advantages he might have gained, and it was the popular 
belief that the misery of his latter days was a divine retribution 
for the crimes of his life. Perseus had neither the same abilities 
nor the same passions. ^ In manner he was dignified and r«- 

* VTJinoc, Of irarepa Kreivag iralSac KardXenzoi. 



Chap. XLIII. THIRD MACEDONIAN WAS. 459 

served; in government lie was generally prudent and temperate. 
But he liad two defects, which in his position were almost more 
fatal than his father's ferocity, — avarice and timidity. 

§ 7. The first measures of his reign were marked by prudence 
and moderation. After regulating the afi'airs at home, he visited 
Greece and won golden opinions by his gracious manners. The 
patriotic party was inclined to join him against the Romanising 
tyrants who were raised to power in every State, as formerly the 
same party had been fain to accept the aid of Rome against 
the tyranny of Philip. 

§ 8. The Senate had their eye upon the movements of Per- 
seus ; but it was not till the year 172 b.c. that incidents occurred 
which brought on immediate hostilities. 

It had been their policy in Asia to increase the power of 
Eumenes of Pergamus, as a balance to the power both of 
Macedonia and Syria. Eumenes was anxious also to extend 
his possessions in Greece ; but the Achaean League, supported 
by Perseus, baffled all his endeavours ; and he appeared at 
Rome as the formal accuser of the King of Macedon. He 
was heard with favour ; and after a secret debate, the Senate 
called in the envoy sent by Perseus to offer explanations. This 
man perceived that the matter had been prejudged. "His 
master," he said, " was ready to explain ; but if they were bent 
on war, for war he was also prepared." He then hastened home 
to warn Perseus that hostilities must soon begin. 

Matters were precipitated by an attempt on the life of 
Eumenes. At Rome he had been rewarded with the gift of a 
curule chair and ivory staff, the highest honours which the Re- 
public could bestow upon a foreigner ; and, on his return home- 
wards, he landed at Cirrha to pay a devotional visit at Delphi. 
He was ascending the steep road which led to the Temple, 
when he was knocked down by some large stones thrown from 
a wall which skirted the road. He was taken up for dead; but 
was carried to ^gina, where he recovered. The assassins had 
escaped. But it was said that they bore letters of introduction 
from Perseus; and a chief citizen of Brundusium came forward 
to state that he also had been off'ered bribes from the King to 
poison some of the Roman Senators. 

It is difficult to say how much of these accusations was true. 
But the Senate gave ready credence to the informers, and imme- 
diate war was determined upon. 

§ 9. On the very day on which the Consuls for l7l B.C. 
entered on office, a decree was framed for obtaining from the 
Centuries a declaration of war; and this time the vote passed 
in the affirmative without demur. The command fell to P. Li- 



460 COiNQUJilST OP THE WOELD. Book V. 

cinius Crassus. While lie was preparing for his expedition, 
Commissioners were sent to different parts of Greece to intimi- 
date the States and prevent them from taking part with Perseus. 
The chief person among them was Q. Marcius Philippas, a 
former friend of Philip, who had borrowed a new family name 
from that monarch. 

Perseus invited him to a conference, which was readily 
accepted by the Eoman envoy, for he knew that the Senate 
wished to gain time. Some dispute arose as to the etiquette of 
crossing the Peneiis, where they met. The Eoman decided it 
in his own favour by an indifferent jest. "It is meet" said he, 
"that the son should come to ^q father P The plausible manners 
of Philippus beguiled Perseus. He prayed for an armistice in 
order to send an embassy to the Senate, which Philippus 
granted with apparent unwillingness. He then returned to 
Rome, and had the impudence to boast in open Senate of the 
successful fraud by which he had gained time; and the Senate, 
Avith the exception of a few honourable men, had the effrontery 
to approve conduct which much resembled swindling. Phi- 
lippus was sent back to Greece as the diplomatic representative 
of Rome. 

§ 10. It was with reason that the Romans were anxious to 
gain time. The resources of Macedon had been steadily in- 
creasing during a peace of nearly thirty years : the Treasury was 
full. Perseus had a Avell-appointed army of 40,000 foot and 4000 
horse, besides the troops of his Thracian allies. The phalanx, 
raised to 20,000 naen, was formed, as of old, in two divisions, — 
the Silver Shields and the Brass Shields. To oppose this force, 
Crassus landed in Epirus late in the season with 28,000 foot 
and 2000 horse, for the most part raw troops. 

§ 11. When Perseus discovered the fraud that had been prac- 
tised upon him, he formed an entrenched camp on the western 
slope of Ossa, favourably situated for foraging in the plain of the 
Peneiis, and for commanding his communications with Macedon 
by the Pass of Tempe. Meanwhile Crassus had threaded the 
passes of Western Thessaly without molestation and advanced 
to Larissa, where to his joy he found Eumenes, now recovered 
from his wounds, Avith his brother Attains, at the head of 4000 
foot and 1000 horse. These additions to his force, with Achaean 
and -^tolian auxiliaries, and some Numidian horse, made his 
anny nearly equal in number to that of Perseus, though it was 
much inferior in quality. 

The Consuls felt this, and steadily declined battle, till Perseus 
advanced to the very gates of the Roman camp, and drove the 
Romans in. He did not, however, venture to attack the camp, 



Chap. XLIII. THIRD MACEDONIAN WAR. 461 

and Crassus decamped across the Peneiis. The blame of the 
defeat was laid upon the ^tolians ; and five chiefs of that nation 
were sent to be tried before the Senate. 

Perseus sued for peace on the terms of the treaty of Flamini- 
nus ; but the Consul obstinately refused all terms short of abso- 
lute submission. Even this defiance failed to rouse the spirit of 
the King. He sent a second message, ofi'ering to increase the 
tribute paid by his father ; but the same contemptuous reply met 
his advances. 

The new Consul An. Hostilius Mancinus arrived early in the 
season to take the command (170 B.C.). He made an attempt to 
force the Cambunian passes, but was repulsed at every point. 

§ 12. The success of the Macedonians had given life to the 
smouldering discontent of Greece. The presence of the Roman 
fleet at Chalcis alone prevented Boeotia from rising in a mass. 
Epirus, hitherto devoted to Rome, reaped no benefit from 
her submissive conduct. Cephalus had long held the govern- 
ment ; and though in his heart he hated Italian dominion, 
he had scrupulously observed every obligation laid upon him. 
But the ear of the Senatorial Commissioners was gained by 
Charops, grandson of that Charops who had assisted Flamininus 
to turn "the Pass of Klissoura. Cephalus felt that his turn 
would come next ; and he engaged with Perseus to raise Epirus 
against Rome. 

§ 13. The Consul who followed Hostilius was Q. Marcius Phi- 
lippus, the cajoler of Perseus. Philippus, though he was past 
sixty and of unwieldy corpulence, displayed more vigour than 
his predecessors. Avoiding the gorge of Tempe and the Cambu- 
nian Passes, he carried his army by a difficult path over the 
north-western shoulder of Mount Olympus, and appeared within 
a few miles of Dium, where Perseus was lying in fancied security. 
The King, panic-stricken, ordered a precipitate retreat to Pydna, 
and sent off two of his confidential ministers, — one to Pella to 
throw his treasure into the sea, the other to Thessalonica to 
destroy his naval stores. 

Philippus, astonished at his own success, pursued the King : 
but he could obtain no provisions, and was obliged to retreat to 
Tempe. On his retreat, Perseus returned to Dium. Ashamed 
of his own pusillanimity, he censured his officers for suffering the 
Romans to pass over Mount Olympus ; and ordered the ministers 
whom he had commissioned to destroy his arsenal and sink his 
treasure to be put to death, in the idle hope that the truth might 
be concealed. 

§ 14. The only substantial success gained by the Consul Phi- 
lippus was the opening of the Pass of Tempe. Public feeling at 



462 CONQUEST OP THE WORLD. Book V. 

Rome began to show signs of impatience. The Senate perceived 
that they must no longer dally with the war, and resolved to 
promote the election of L. ^milius PauUus to the Consulship. 
This eminent man, the son-in-law of Scipio, had lived in retire- 
ment since the fall of his great kinsman. He was now past sixty, 
and had always been rejected as a candidate for the Consulship, 
but in the hour of need was appointed to the command by a 
special decree of the Senate. 

He resolved, however, first to make the present state of things 
fully known. He therefore insisted on sending Commissioners 
to report on the condition of both the armies. This report was 
not encouraging. Perseus was still at Dium with all his forces 
round him. The Consul could not stir from Tempe. Epirus 
was in full insurrection. The fleet was as ill oflF as the army. 
Eumenes had withdrawn. Both he and the Rhodians had shown 
symptoms of disaffection to Rome. Genthius, King of Illyria, was 
expected to join Perseus. 

§ 15. Paullus deemed the occasion worthy of all attention. No 
Legionary Tribunes were appointed but men of proved experi- 
ence. The army was made up to more than 30,000 men. One 
Praetor, Cn. Octavius, took the command of the fleet. L. Anicius, 
the Praetor Peregrinus, was dispatched with 10,000 foof and 800 
horse to attack Genthius at home. An army of reserve was 
formed in Italy. 

The commanders left Rome early in April of the year 168 b.c. 
Paullus, accompanied by his two sons, and by young Scipio 
Nasica, son of the "best man" (Chapt. xxxiv. § 16), travelled 
post-haste to Brundusium, crossed to Dyrrhachium in one day ; 
in five days more reached Delphi, where he stayed to offer sacri- 
fice to Apollo ; and in five days more joined the army at Tempe. 
A few severe examples checked disorder, and strict regulations 
restored discipline. The fame of the new Consul alarmed the 
feeble Perseus. Nor was his alarm lessened by hearing that 
the Praetor Anicius had pursued Genthius from Lissus to Scodra, 
and had compelled the chief to surrender at discretion. 

§ 16. Yet the defensive measures taken by Perseus were good. 
He had drawn entrenchments along the deep bed of the Enipeus 
from the base of Mount Olympus to the sea ; and Paullus thought 
the Macedonian position too strong to be assailed in front. He 
therefore sent Nasica round the mountain, while he amused the 
enemy by a feigned attack upon his lines. Nasica, after an 
arduous march, turned the right flank of the Macedonian lines ; 
and Perseus fell back to the plain of Pydna, which was well 
adapted for the movements of the Phalanxes. Paullus followed 
close, but resolved not to risk a battle till he had secured his 



Chap. XLIII. THIRD MACEDONIAN WAR. 463 

camp. On the evening of his arrival, C. Sulpicius Gallus, one of 
the Legionary Tribunes, gave out that there would be an eclipse 
of the moon that night, and thus prevented the alarm which 
this supposed portent would have caused to the Eomans. The 
Macedonians, on the other hand, were^ horror-struck : the eclipse 
seemed to threaten the fall of the monarchy/* 

§ 17. The next day a decisive conflict was brought on by acci- 
dent, as at Cynoscephalse. About three in the afternoon a Roman 
horse broke loose, and was followed by a few soldiers into the 
bed of the small stream which separated the two armies. The 
horse was ' seized by an outpost of Thracians ; a scuffle ensued, 
and so many men came up on both sides to take part in the 
fray, that both King and Consul drew out their whole armies 
in battle order. The Macedonians attacked. The two Phalanxes, 
the Brass and Silver Shields, formed the main body, flanked by 
the light troops and cavalry, with a formidable body of Thracian 
auxiliaries. Paullus rode, unhelmeted, with his gray hair loose, 
along their line, and looked, as he afterwards said, with alarm at 
the formidable mass of bristling pikes. The battle began. In 
vain the Italian soldiers showed more than their accustomed 
bravery. The weight of the Phalanxes was irresistible ; and the 
Legions fell back, but so as to draw the enemy to the base of 
the hills which skirted the plain. As the ground became less 
even, the compact masses of the Phalanxes began to show gaps 
here and there. Into every chink that opened, Roman soldiers 
penetrated. Once more the Phalanx was tried against the 
Legions and failed. The heavy infantry, encumbered by their 
long pikes, were cut down man by man ; not less than 20,000 fell, 
and 11,000 were made prisoners. The Macedonian army was 
annihilated. 

§ 18. After the disastrous day of Pydna, Perseus fled to Pella, 
his capital, which he reached at midnight. Next day, he con- 
tinued his flight to Amphipolis, where he stayed only to see his 
beloved treasures put on board ship. Then, with his children he 
made straight for the sacred asylum of Samothrace. His only 
followers were Evander, a Cretan, and two Greek exiles. 

Paullus followed the King to Amphipolis, but was too late, 
and dispatched Octavius with the fleet to Samothrace. On the 
arrival of the Romans, the wretched King was deserted by his 
last followers, who carried ofi" on board ship the gold which he 
loved more than life. His children were betrayed by their 
keepers to Octavius. Then, deserted by every one, he surren- 

* Modem calculations have fixed this eclipse to the 21st of June of our 
calendar ; but according to the Romans it was late in August or early in Sep- 
tember. So far was their calendar from the true time. 



464 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. Book Y. 

dered, and was conveyed to the Consul's quarters at Amphipolis, 
He was received by PauUus with distant courtesy, but he was 
given to understand that the Macedonian monarchy had ceased to 
exist. 

§ 19. Great was the joy at Rome at news of the decisive vic- 
tories won by Anicius in 'Illyria, and by Paullus in Macedonia. 
PauUus remained in Greece during the winter, and in the spring 
was visited by Commissioners bearing the orders of the Senate 
with regard to Macedonia. The people crowded eagerly to 
Amphipolis, as on a former occasion the Greeks had crowded 
to Corinth, but with hopes and feelings far different. In the 
midst of a dead silence, Paullus recited the ordinances in Latin ; 
Octavius repeated them in Greek. " The whole country was to 
be divided into four districts : — one between the Nestus and 
the Strymon, the second between the Strymon and Axius, the 
third between the Axius and Mount Olympus, while the fourth 
included the inland districts bordering on Epirus and Illyria. 
The capital cities of each respectively were to be Amphipolis, 
Thessalonica, Pella, Pelagonia. Each district was to constitute a 
separate Republic, but the citizens of each were forbidden to 
enter into any connubial or commercial relations with those of 
another. The tribute paid to Rome was to be only half what 
they had hitherto paid to the King. They were prohibited 
from working their gold and silver mines, or to make salt in the 
country." 

The isolation of Macedonia was thus effectually provided for, 
while the people were amused with a show of liberty, and pleased 
by a remission of taxes. Paullus drew up, for the government 
of the four Republics, a clear and impartial code of laws. The 
administration of each was placed in the hands of a Senate ; but 
as all who had hitherto taken part in the government were trans- 
ported to Italy, the persons who held rule were helpless and 
ignorant, and the country fell into utter disorganisation. 

§ 20. The Greeks laid their complaints at the feet of Paullus ; 
but the Senatorial envoys turned a deaf ear to all prayers. Full 
power was left in the hands of the Romanizing Tyrants. 

In Epirus, a shocking work still remained to be done ; the 
Epirotes were to be punished for their insurrection. Cephalus 
and the ringleaders had sought a voluntary death ; but this did 
not satisfy the Senate. By their express orders, Paullus met 
Anicius in Epirus. Here he announced the will of the Senate, 
that all Epirotes should hereafter be free and independent, and 
that all their gold and silver should, by a given day, be deposited 
in the treasury of seventy towns specified by name. On that 
day seventy detachments of his army entered each of the 



Chap. XLIII. THIRD MACEDONIAiT WAR. 465 

seventy towns, seized the precious metals and all free inhabit- 
ants. The walls of every town were demolished, the wretched 
captives, to the number of 150,000, were sold as slaves, and the 
money was distributed to the soldiery. It is grievous to have 
to relate such an act of ^milius Paullus. It may be imagined, 
what must have been the public feeling of a nation, when the 
Government could deliberately issue such an order, when the 
best of its citizens thought himself bound to execute it without 
hesitation or reserve, when no historian speaks of it with so much 
as a word of censure. 

§ 21. The close of the year 167 b.c. witnessed the return of 
the conquerors. Paullus sailed from Oricum in a splendid galley 
of seventeen banks of oars, laden with trophies. He passed up 
the Tiber amid the acclamations of the multitude who lined the 
banks, followed by Anicius and Octavius. 

His triumph took place in the last days of November. It was 
the most gorgeous spectacle which had yet feasted the eyes of the 
Eoman populace. The Forum was fitted out with rising seats like 
a theatre, that all might see the processions as they passed. On 
the first day the statues and paintings taken were exhibited on 
250 waggons ; on the second, the splendid arms and accoutre- 
ments of the Macedonian ofiicers, suspended from the long pikes 
of the phalanx-men, passed along the Sacred Way : then fol- 
lowed 3000 men, walking four abreast, each of whom carried a 
vase full of silver coin : and the procession closed with another 
set, who bore the silver plate used at the tables of Perseus and 
his nobles. On the third and great day the procession began 
with a body of trumpeters, followed by twenty youths, each 
leading a milk-white bull, with his horns gilded, garlanded with 
ribands and flowers. Then came men carrying gold coin in 
vases, and the gold plate and the precious stones, Next followed 
the royal car of Perseus, laden with his armour and surmounted 
by the diadem of Macedon. After it came the children of 
Perseus — two boys and a girl with their attendants, — and Per- 
seus himself, with his queen, stupefied with grief. Last of all 
was seen the triumphal car of the Proconsul, preceded by men 
bearing 400 crowns of gold, the gifts of the cities of Greece, 
followed by his two eldest sons on horseback, together with all his 
army in its order. 

§ 22. But Paullus, amid all this glory, was reminded that he 
was mortal. The two sons, who shared his triumph, had been 
adopted into other families; the elder by Q. Fabius Maximus, 
son of the old Dictator, the second by P. Scipio, the son of 
Africanus. But he had two younger boys still left to brighten 
his home, when he returned to the City. Of these, one died 

20* 



466 



CONQUEST OF THE "WORLD. 



Book V. 



five days before his Triumph, the other three days after. The 
stern father was moved as such men are wont to be moved by 
heavy calamities ; but with the true feeling of a Roman he 
lightened his private woe by representing it as a public good. 
In a speech which he made to the People, according to custom, 
on surrendering his command, he recounted his successes ; 
"but," he said, "at every new success he had dreaded the 
wrath of Nemesis, and he thanked the gods that the blow had 
fallen upon himself, and not upon his country. No one was left 
to bear the name of Paullus. But he repined not at this do- 
mestic sorrow ; he rejoiced that Rome was happy, though he was 
miserable." 

§ 23. The treasure taken in the Macedonian war paid all debts 
contracted in its progress ; and the tribute annually exacted from 
Macedon, added to the revenues of other Provinces, enabled the 
Government to dispense with all direct taxes upon Roman citizens 
in future wars. Such tax was only once imposed anew, at a disas- 
trous crisis. 

§ 24. The captive monarch was kept in durance at Alba: his 
two other children died soon after the triumph. It is gratifying 
to know that Paullus interfered to procure the liberation of Per- 
seus from a loathsome dungeon to which he had at first been con- 
signed. The unhappy King did not long survive his degradation. 
His surviving son, Alexander, was set free after a while, and lived 
long at Rome in the condition of a public clerk. Such was the 
destiny of the last heir of the monarchy of Macedon. 




Coin of Lepidus, representing Paullus triumphing over Perseus and Ms Children. 




Coin of Attains I. 



CHAPTER XLIV 



GENERAL HISTORY BETWEEN THE WAR WITH PERSEUS AND THE LAST 
WARS WITH GREECE AND CARTHAGE. (166 150 B.C.) 

§ 1. Imperious bearing of Rome in the East: Antiochus Epiphanes invades 
Egypt: " Circle" of Popillius. §2. One Thousand cliief Achaeans detained 
in Italy. § 3. Base treatment of the Rhodians. § 4. Attempts against 
Eumenes : he is succeeded by Attalus 11. § 5. Meanness of Prusias. § 6. 
"War of Antiochus Epiphanes with the Jews : the Maccabees : his nephew 
Demetrius obtains the crown. § T. Egypt. § 8. "Wars ia Southern Gaul 
and Dalmatia. § 9. Death of ^milius Paullus: his frugahty. § 10. 
Cato: Embassy of Carneades. § 11- Complaints of the Spaniards: trial 
and exile of two Grovemors: Calpurnian Law. § 12. Outbreak of war in 
Spain : patriotism of Scipio the son of PauUus. § 13. Base treachery of 
Galba to the Lusitanians : his trial and acquittal. § 14. Early life and 
character of Scipio the son of Paullus. 

§ 1, The years wHcL. followed the fall of Macedon present 
little to interest the reader ; yet in that time the seeds were sown 
for future conquests. The reduction of Carthage, Greece, and Ma- 
cedon to the condition of Roman Provinces was the consequence 
of the diplomatic art, which senators learned every day to practise 
with more unscrupulousness. 

In the East the Senate assumed a more imperious tone : kings 
bowed down before them and became their vassals. 

In Greece every state was subject to tyrants who ruled under 
the patronage of Rome. Athens alone was left untortured, for she 
had ever been the submissive servant of the Senate. 

Meantime Antiochus Epiphanes, the half-mad King of Syria, 
took occasion of a disputed succession in Egypt to invade that 
famous country. His progress was arrested in a summary 
fashion. When the Senate heard of the movement of Antiochus, 



468 CONQUEST OP THE WORLD. Book V. 

C. Popillius Laenas had been dispatclied to stop him. He found 
the King on the borders of Egypt ; he demanded and obtained 
an immediate audience. Antiochus advanced graciously with 
extended hand, but the Roman Envoy held out a written decree 
of the Senate, by which the King was required to leave Egypt at 
peace. The King demanded time for deliberation, upon which 
the insolent Roman drew a circle round him with his staff", and 
told him that before he stepped out of that circle an answer must 
be given. Confounded by this abruptness, Antiochus submitted, 
and withdrew his troops. 

§ 2, After the death of Philopoemen in 183 e.g., Lycortas be- 
came Chief of the Achaean League. He would willingly have 
pursued the bold policy of Philopoemen. But his son Polybius, 
with the other patriotic leaders, felt their real weakness ; and 
an agreement was made with the leaders of the Roman party 
to send an embassy to Rome (e.g. 180). In this embassy was 
Callicrates, Avho at once sold himself to the Senate, and assured 
them that so long as Lycortas, Polybius, and the popular Chiefs 
Avere in power, the League would never act in the interests of 
Rome ; that if they would lend the weight of their influence 
to place him in power, he would undertake that the Achseans 
should give them no more trouble; and that similar policy 
might be pursued with advantage in every state of Greece. 
After the battle of Pydna, Commissioners were sent to the 
Assembly of the Achaean League, to declare that the Senate had 
received information that certain leading Achaean statesmen 
had supported Perseus ; they now demanded that the Assem- 
bly should pass a vote of condemnation on all such persons ; — 
the names should be made known when the vote was passed. 
The President refused to put this iniquitous question to the 
vote, insisting that the names of the accused should first be 
stated. After some hesitation the Commissioners named all 
who had held the office of Captain-General for some years. 
Xenon rose and indignantly offered to prove his innocence 
before the Senate. With this incautious offer the Commissioners 
eagerly closed, and Callicrates drew up a list of 1000 suspected 
persons, including Polybius (his father, Lycortas, was dead), and 
every man of note in the cities of the League. But the Senate 
had no intention of bringing them to trial. They were distri- 
buted among the cities of Etruria, to be kept in close custody, 
all except Polybius, who was allowed to reside in the house 
of J^milius Paullus. Callicrates was now absolute ruler of the 
Peloponnese. 

§ 3. The treatment of the Rhodians was most dishonourable 
to Rome. The islanders had ventured to reduce their insurgent 



Chap. XLIV. TYRANISTY OP ROME OVER THE EAST 469 

subjects, the Lycians and Carians, to obedience. The Senate 
now encouraged these people to appeal, declaring -with shameless 
effrontery that they had never intended to make them subjects, 
but only allies, of Rhodes. During the war with Perseus, the 
wily Philippus suggested to the Rhodians to offer their mediation. 
The ambassadors charged with this business arrived in Italy 
about the time that Paullus was setting forth. They were not 
admitted to an audience till the news of the battle of Pydna 
arrived, when they were dismissed with a contemptuous reproof. 
Soon after they Avere deprived not only of Lycia and Caria, but 
also of other cities which they had purchased ; and a fatal blow 
was aimed at their commerce by declaring Delos a free port under 
Roman protection. By this single act their custom-dues fell from 
1,000,000 drachma) per annum to 150,000. 

§ 4. Nor did the Kings fare better than the free States. 
Eumenes of Pergamus, so long the favourite of the Senate, had 
shown some coolness to Rome in the war with Perseus. His 
brother Attains, however, had remained in the Roman camp, 
and was sent to Rome with congratulations after the battle of 
Pydna. The leaders of the Senate now insidiously advised him 
to demand a portion of his brother's dominions for himself. 
Attains was a vain but not ill-disposed prince, and be shrunk 
from such disloyalty. The Senate then secretly urged Prusias 
of Bithynia to lay complaints against the King of Pergamus ; but 
all their insidious arts were baffled, and Eumenes died upon the 
throne four years after. He left an infant son, who ultimately 
succeeded to the throne, but his immediate successor was his 
brother, who took the name of Attains Philadelphus. Polybius 
gives a high character of Eumenes ; it is to the credit of all con- 
cerned that his brothers, notwithstanding all temptations, con- 
tinued to act as his faithful ministers, 

§ 5. Prusias of Bithynia was among the first to offer congra- 
tulations after the battle of Pydna. This mean-spirited Prince 
appeared at Rome with his head shaven, and dressed like a slave 
who had just received his liberty. The Senate were not dis- 
pleased at this abject flattery. But though they had encouraged 
him to quarrel with Attains, — when he ventured to make war, 
and was at the gates of Pergamus, they imperiously compelled 
him to make peace. 

§ 6. The mad King of Syria, prevented from his attempts on 
Egypt by the famous circle of Popillius, found employment 
nearer home. He had before this time conquered Judaea, and 
had insulted the religious feelings of the people by offering 
swine's flesh on the altar o-f Jehovah. His gross and outrageous 
tyranny at length roused the shrinking energies of the Jews. 



470 CONQUEST OP THE WORLD. Book V. 

Mattathias and liis seven heroic sons raised tlie standard of the 
Maccabees about the year 168 e.g., and unaccustomed lustre was 
shed upon the arms of Israel. Antiochus Epiphanes died in 164, 
and left the heritage of this war to his infant son' Antiochus 
Eupator. But there was a competitor for the throne, whose 
claims were in every way superior. This was Demetrius, son of 
Seleucus the elder brother and predecessor of Epiphanes. He 
was at that time a youth of twenty-five years, and had been long 
detained at Rome as a hostage. On the death of his uncle, he 
applied to the Senate for his rightful inheritance. That astute 
Council preferred to have an infant on the throne of Syria, and 
sent Octavius to assume the guardianship of the child Antiochus, 
But Lysias, a kinsman of the royal family, suspected the Senate, 
and hired an assassin to murder Octavius on his landing. At that 
moment Demetrius appeared in Syria and was proclaimed King. 
The soldiery acknowledged him, and murdered both the infant 
King and his guardian Lysias ; and the Senate thought it best to 
confirm Demetrius in possession of the throne. He endeavoured 
to propitiate their favour by every means. But the Senate 
secretly encouraged the eff'orts of Judas Maccabaeus, who was 
now the leader of the Jews, and in the year 161 B.C. con- 
cluded a formal covenant with him. They did not, however, 
lend him any open assistance ; and the Jews finally sunk under 
the power of the Syrian monarchy. 

§ 7. In Egypt, also, the Senate endeavoured to profit by pro- 
moting the dissensions which first led Antiochus Epiphanes to 
his attempt upon Egypt. But in no long time Ptolemy Physcon 
(Fat-paunch) succeeded to the monarchy. The low state to 
which Egypt had now sunk is aptly typified by the name of its 
King. 

Thus, without using actual forc6, the Senate weakened every 
government in the East. It was needless to employ the Legions 
and to spend money in crushing governments which were so 
weak and so divided. When " the pear was ripe," it was sure to 
fall into the ready hand of Rome. Her emblem at this time 
ought to have been the Serpent rather than the Eagle, 

§ 8, Neither were her arms much more actively employed in 
Western conquest. In 166 B.C. the Consuls C. Sulpicius Callus, 
the predictor of the eclipse, and M. Marcellus pushed the Le- 
gions for the first time across the Maritime Alps, and obtained a 
double triumph over the Gauls and Ligurians, who peopled the 
western slopes of the range. And twelve years later (154) the 
Consul Q. Opimius was sent to drive back the Oxybians, a Ligurian 
tribe, who had descended to the coasts of the Mediterranean 
and assaulted Antipolis and Nicaea (Antibes and Nice), two cities 



Chap. XLIV. iEMILIUS PAULLUS— CATO. 4*71 

subject to Massilia, then and always a faitMul ally of Rome. 
Such were the first steps towards the conquest of Gaul. 

Two years before this last campaign, the Dalmatians, an Illyrian 
tribe, who occupied the coast-land between Istria and Illyria 
Proper, incurred the anger of Rome by making inroads into the 
country about Scodra. Scipio Nasica, the friend of JEmilius 
Paullus, brought this petty war to a triumphant conclusion in 155 
B.C. The whole coast of the Adriatic was now subject to Roman 
power. 

§ 9. The same period is not marked by any remarkable inci- 
dents at home. 

JEmilius Paullus held the ofiice of Censor three years after 
his triumph ; and five years later he was gathered to his fathers, 
having completed his three score years and ten. His funeral 
was honoured with splendid games, and with the first perform- 
ance of the Adelphi of Terence, in which it is said that the poet 
was assisted by the son of the deceased, young Scipio, who was 
then in his twenty-fifth year. Paullus left behind him a name 
unspotted, except by the devastation of Epirus. He professed 
the austere philosophy of the Stoics, which he applied to main- 
tain the simplicity of the old Roman manners, — so far Avas it 
from true that in all cases corruption flowed from Hellenic 
sources. At his death, it appeared that his whole property 
amounted to no more than sixty talents, little more than the great 
Scipio had bestowed upon each of his two daughters. 

§ 10. Old Cato still maintained the battle against luxury. 
He warmly supported several Sumptuary Laws, which were 
passed at this time to limit the expenses of banquets. He buried 
his only son with austere frugality. 

This son had married the daughter of JEmilius Paullus, and 
thus the old man had been drawn into connection with the 
Scipios. This connection, together with age, seems to have 
exerted a softening influence upon the old Censor. In his latter 
days he had extended the love which he had always shown for 
Roman literature to that of Greece. The language of Homer and 
Demosthenes could boast no more signal triumph than that it 
conquered the stubborn pride of Cato. 

Yet the old Censor continued to wage war against the fashion- 
able learning. His notion of education was, that the youth 
should engage as early as possible in the active struggles of 
the Forum ; all speculative studies were, in his belief, calcu- 
lated to unfit men for practical life. In 161 B.C., the Senate, at 
his advice, authorised the Praetor Pomponius to banish all phi- 
losophers and rhetoricians from Rome ; and six years later (155), 
a notable occasion ofi"ered itself for enforcing his principles. In 



472 CONQUEST OF THE "WORLD. BoOK V. 

that year the Athenians sent an embassy to Rome to pray for 
the remission of a fine imposed upon their city by the Senate 
for certain depredations committed in the Oropian territory. 
To add weight to their prayers, they named as the envoys the 
chiefs of the three great schools which then divided the philo- 
sophic world, — Diogenes the Stoic, Critolaus the Peripatetic, and 
Carneades the famous founder of the New Academy. These 
ingenious reasoners were welcomed by the younger members of 
the Roman nobility. C. Acilius, a Senator, himself acted as their 
interpreter. Crowds of young Romans came to hear the acute 
logic of Diogenes, the persuasive rhetoric of CritolauSj and the 
subtle speculation of Carneades, whose philosophy was so un- 
biassed that he was ready not only to maintain either side in 
any argument, but was never known to betray an opinion of his 
own. Old Cato, though he cared little for justice when the 
questions lay between Rome and foreigners, could not brook 
to see the principles of right and wrong treated as indifferent 
questions, and was alarmed lest the practical principles and 
habits of Roman youth might give way to a taste for sophistical 
trifling. The Senate remitted the fine ; but, at Cato's instance, 
ordered the ingenious strangers to quit Rome immediately. 

§ 11. After the uneventful period of which we have been 
speaking, war broke out in Spain, speedily followed by others in 
the Carthaginian territory, in Macedonia, and in Greece. These 
last we will reserve for separate chapters ; but of the first it will 
be convenient to speak here. 

The treaty of Tib. Gracchus in 1*79 b.c. was followed by 
a long tranquillity : yet there was much reason for discontent. 
The oppression of the Prsetors, and the extortion of the tax- 
collectors, were constant; and, after eight years, envoys from 
both Provinces appeared with formal complaints before the 
Senate. At that time the war with Perseus was just beginning, 
and, therefore, there was no disposition to provoke the hostility 
of the Spaniards. Five Senators were named as Judges, and 
the Spanish envoys were left to name their own advocates. 
Those of the Hither Province chose Cato and Nasica ; those of 
Further Spain, JEmilius Paullus and Sulpicius Gallus. The first 
Governor indicted before this Court was acquitted. So were the 
next two. But the advocates declared that they would apply for 
fresh trials, and the accused sought safety in voluntary exile. 
In this Senatorial Court we may recognise the germ of the 
famous Law of L. Calpurnius Piso de rebus repetundis, that is, 
the Law for the recovery of undue exactions on the part of Pro- 
vincial Governors. It Avas passed about twenty years later (149 

B.C.) 



Chap. XLIV. WAR IN SPAIN. 473 

§ 12. About eigliteen years after tliis imperfect attempt at 
redress, the smouldering fire of war broke out. A Celtiberian 
city named Segeda, in the upper valley of the Tagus, began to 
rebuild their walls, contrary to an article in the treaty of 
Gracchus. To resist the Consul M. Fulvius Nobilior,* the 
Segedians formed an alliance with the people of Numantia, a 
brave tribe which occupied the mountainous country in which 
the Douro takes its rise. Fulvius handed over his command to 
Marcellus after an inglorious campaign. The new Commander, 
who was grandson of the famous Marcellus, assumed the offensive 
with so much vigour that the enemy sued for a renewal of the 
treaty of Gracchus. But the Senate ordered LucuUus, the new 
Consul, to make fresh levies for the war. A scene now followed, 
which might have shown the Senate that their power was not 
destined to be perpetual. When LucuUus held his levy, none 
were willing to enlist, and the Tribunes of the Plebs committed 
both Consuls to prison for enforcing enlistment. In this difiiculty, 
young Scipio, the second son of Paullus, who had lived up to the 
age of thirty-three in retirement, came forward as a mediator. 
He had been just offered a lucrative mission to Macedonia ; but 
he declined it, and said that he would serve however and wher- 
ever the Senate thought fit. This patriotic conduct had its eftect. 
Scipio was elected one of the Legionary Tribunes, and the levies 
were concluded. 

LucuUus made an unprovoked inroad into the country of the 
Vaccseans, who lay to the west of Numantia. The town of Cauca 
capitulated ; but LucuUus, with scandalous ill-faith, put all the in- 
habitants to the sword. He then attacked a strong fortress not 
far from Yalladolid. Here a tali Spaniard, splendidly armed, rode 
forth and challenged any Roman to single combat. Scipio accepted 
the challenge, and slew his gigantic adversary. 

§ 13. Meanwhile, the Lusitanian shepherds had resumed their 
inroads into the Further Province. While LucuUus was wantonly 
assailing the Vaccseans, the Praetor Sergius Galba invaded Lu- 
sitania. The mountaineers dispersed before the Legions, but 
fell upon the Praetor at a disadvantage, and so eff"ectually 
routed him, that he escaped only with a few horse over the 
mountains into Baetica, and passed the winter meditating 
vengeance. 

Early in the next spring he again entered Lusitania from the 
south, while LucuUus advanced from the north, wasting the coun- 
try with fire and sword. The people ofiered submission. Galba 

* Consul for the year 152 B.C. In this year the-Consuls first entered office 
in the Calends of January, instead of the Calends of March, which had hitherto 
been the first day of the official year. 



474 CONQUEST OP THE 'WORLD. Book Y. 

answered witli apparent kindness. " He was grieved," lie said, 
" to see the poverty of the country. If the inhabitants would meet 
him in three divisions, at places specified, he would assign lands 
and cities to each, as Gracchus had done." The simple people 
believed him. But Galba fell on each body separately with his 
whole force and cut it to pieces. This infamous piece of treach- 
ery crushed the spirit of the Lusitanians. But retributive justice 
waited her time. Among those who escaped the sword of Galba 
was a young shepherd, named Viriathus, of whom we shall hear 
another time. 

Galba was brought to trial, not so much for treachery to the 
enemy, as because he divided so small a portion of the booty, 
and kept back the larger share for himself. Old Cato spoke with 
honest indignation against the un-Roman perfidy of the Gover- 
nor, But Galba was extremely eloquent and extremely rich. 
The Centuries made themselves partakers in his infamy by a vote 
of acquittal, and six years after he was elected Consul by their 
votes. Corruption was descending to all orders and degrees of 
men. 

§ 14. We will here add, by way of contrast to Galba's baseness, 
some account of the man who in the next few years played the 
most important part among the generals of Rome. 

P. Scipio, sometimes called -^milianus to distinguish him 
from his great namesake, has already been mentioned more 
than once. His youth is remarkable for his intimacy with an 
exile, Polybius, the Achaean statesman, the historian of Roman. 
conquest. The Greek had become acquainted with PauUus 
and his sons during the Macedonian War ; it was at the request 
of the young man, that he was allowed to reside in the house 
of Paullus, while his fellow-exiles were buried in Etrurian 
prisons. Polybius was at this time not less than forty years 
of age ; Scipio was but eighteen. The youth's habits were re- 
served and shy. He was fonder of field-sports than of the 
Forum. When the Achaean exile first came to Rome, he attached 
himself chiefly to Fabius, the elder brother, whose manners 
were more frank and cordial. But one day, when Fabius had 
gone (as usual) to the Forum, Scipio, with an ingenuous blush, 
complained of the neglect shown to himself " And yet," said 
he, " I am myself to blame. Men think me indolent, because I 
love not the strife of the Forum, and deem me unworthy of the 
great name I bear," Polybius perceived that he had mistaken 
the character of the young man (it is from himself that we learn 
the facts), and offered his best services in advancing his educa- 
tion. " Book-learning you and your brother may get from any 
of my countrymen. But for the lessons of practical life, my 



Chap. XLIV. SOIPIO ^MILIANUS. 47.5 

experience may enable me to serve you." Young Scipio seized 
the hand of his new friend, and passionately exclaimed : " If 
you will but make me your chief care, I shall prove unworthy 
neither of my great father, nor of him whose adopted name 
I bear." Polybius undertook his work not without fear, for 
he saw the temptations which would beset a young man so 
noble and so wealthy. But the seed was sown on no ungrateful 
soil. Young Scipio followed his father in adopting the practical 
philosophy of the Stoics, and resisted the besetting sins of the 
day, — selfishness and sensuality. If he seldom set foot in the 
Forum, he shunned no laborious exercises : many hours he spent 
in hunting the boar or the deer on the Alban Hills, accompanied 
by Polybius, who shared his ardour for the chase. The wife of 
the great Scipio, his aunt by blood and grandmother by adoption, 
had used a costly equipage and large retinue. At her death, 
Scipio, with thoughtful generosity, gave it all to his mother Emilia. 
At the same time, he was called on (as heir to the great Scipio) 
to make up half the dowry of his two daughters, which had been 
left unpaid. The law allowed him three years for payment ; but 
he paid down the whole fifty talents at once, to the surprise of 
Nasica and Gracchus, husbands of the ladies. At the death of his 
natural father, he inherited a moiety of his fortune, which he at 
once relinquished in favour of his less wealthy brother Fabius, and 
undertook of his own accord to bear the expense of the gladia- 
torial show, which Fabius, as the eldest son, was called on to ex- 
hibit. "These things," says Polybius, "would be excellent any- 
where ; but at Rome, where no one gives anything without need, 
nor pays a talent before the time prescribed by law, they were 
perfect miracles." 



CHAPTER XLV, 

THE LAST WARS "WITH MACEDON AND GREECE : FALL OP CORINTH. 
(151—146 B.C.) 

§ 1. Liberation of the Achaean captives. § 2. Violent Counsels of these men. 
§ 3. Appearance of a Pretender in Macedonia. § 4. The Achseans revolt: 
Q. Metellus recovers Macedonia. § 5. "War declared against the Achseans. 
§ 6. Metellus defeats Critolaus and advances towards the Isthmus. § t. 
Superseded by L. Mummius, who defeats Diseus before Corinth : Sack of 
Corinth. § 8. Mummius sends home the Statues and works of Art. § 9. 
Greece formed into the Roman Province of Achaia : good offices of Polybius. 
§ 10. Macedonia and Epirus formed into another Province : also Illyria. 
§ 11. Triumphs of MeteUus and Mummius. 

§ 1. In the same year in wliicli LucuUus and Galba took com- 
mand in Spain, the Senate was induced to perform an act 
of tardy justice in the release of the Achaean captives. The 
abduction of the best men in every state of Greece gave free 
scope, as has been said, to the oppressions of the tyrants favoured 
by Rome. In the Achaean Assembly alone there was still spirit 
enough to check Callicrates, who never ventured to assail the 
persons and property of his fellow-citizens. Meantime years 
rolled on ; the captives still languished in Etruscan prisons ; hope 
deferred and sickness were fast thinning their numbers : the 
Assembly asked that only Polybius and Stratius might return, 
but the request was met by a peremptory negative. At last, 
when Scipio returned from Spain, he induced Cato to inter- 
cede for these unhappy men. The manner of the old Censor's 
intercession is characteristic. The debate had lasted long and 
the issue was doubtful, when Cato rose, and, without a word 
about justice or humanity, simply said : " Have we really nothing 
to do but to sit here all day, debating whether a parcel of old 
Greeks are to have their coffins made here or at home ?" The 
question was decided by this unfeeling argument, and the pri- 
soners, who in sixteen years had dwindled from 1000 to 300, 
were set free. But when Polybius prayed that his comrades 
might be restored to their former rank and honours, the old 
senator smiled, and told him " he was acting like Ulysses, when 
he ventured back into the cave of the Cyclops to recover his cap 
and belt." 

§ 2. The men released in this ungracious way had passed the 
best part of their lives in captivity. The elder and more ex- 



Chap. XLT. LAST MACEDONIAN WAE. 4YY 

perienced among them were dead. The survivors returned with 
feelings embittered against Rome ; they were rash and ignorant, 
and, what was worse, they had lost all sense of honour and all 
principle, and were ready to expose their country to any danger 
in order to gratify their own passions. The chief name that has 
reached us is that of Diseus. Polybius did not return at first, 
and when he reached Greece he found his countrymen acting 
with such reckless violence that he gladly accepted Scipio's invi- 
tation to accompany him to the siege of Carthage. Callicrates, 
by a strange reverse, was now the leader of the moderate party. 
Diaeus advocated every violent and unprincipled measure. On an 
embassy to Rome the former died, and Diseus returned as chief of 
the Achaean League. 

§ 3. Not long after (in 148 B.C.) a pretender to the throne of 
Macedon appeared. He was a young man named Andriscus, a 
native of Adramyttium, who gave himself out as Philip, a younger 
son of that luckless monarch. The state of Macedonia, divided 
into four Republics, each in a state of compulsory excommuni- 
cation, was so distracted, that, in the year- 151, the people 
sent an embassy to Rome, praying that Scipio might be sent 
to settle their afi"airs, and he had only been prevented from 
undertaking the task by the self-imposed duty of accompanying 
the army of LucuUus into Spain. The Pretender, however, met 
with so little success in his first attempt that he fled to the 
court of Demetrius at Antioch, and this Prince sent him to 
Rome, The war with Carthage was then at its height. The 
Senate treated the matter lightly, and the adventurer was al- 
lowed to escape. Some Thracian chiefs received him, and with 
troops furnished by them he penetrated into Thessaly. The Ro- 
man Praetor, Juventius Thalna, Avas defeated and slain by the 
Pretender. 

§ 4, The temporary success of Pseudo-Philippus (as the Romans 
called him) encouraged Di^us to drive the Achaeans into a rup- 
ture with Rome. The haughty Republic, he said, was at war 
with Carthage and with Macedon ; now was the time to break 
their bonds. Q. Metellus, who had just landed in Greece with a 
considerable army, gave the Achaeans a friendly warning, but in 
vain. 

Metellus soon finished the Macedonian war. At his approach 
the Pretender hastily retired from Thessaly, and was given up to 
the Roman Praetor by a Thracian chief whose protection he had 
sought. 

§ 5. Meanwhile, a Commission had already arrived at Corinth, 
headed by M. Aurelius Orestes, who summoned the chiefs of 
the League to hear the sentence of the Senate upon their recent 



478 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. Book Y, 

conduct. He informed them that they must relinquish all claims 
of sovereignty over Corinth, Argos, and Lacedsemon — a doom 
which reduced the Achsean League nearly to the condition from 
which Aratus first raised it. The chiefs reported what they had 
heard to the Assembly. A furious burst of passion rose, which 
Diseus did not attempt to restrain. Orestes and the Eomans 
hardly escaped personal violence. 

Orestes instantly returned to Rome ; and the Senate, preferring 
diplomacy to force, sent a second Commission headed by Sext. 
Julius Caesar, with instructions to use gentle language, and merely 
to demand the surrender of those who had instigated the violent 
scenes lately enacted at Corinth. A contemptuous answer was 
returned, upon which Csesar returned to Rome, and the Senate 
declared war against the Achseans. 

§ 6, Metellus hoped to win the glory of pacifying Greece, as 
well as of conquering Macedonia. He sent some of his chief 
ofiicers to endeavour to bring the Achseans to their senses. But 
their leaders were too far committed ; and at the beginning of 146 
B.C. Critolaus, a friend of Diseus, who was General for the year, 
advanced into Thessaly, and was joined by the Thebans, always 
the inveterate enemies of Rome. Metellus had already heard that 
the Achsean war was to be conducted by L. Mummius, one of the 
new Consuls ; and, anxious to bring it to a close before he was 
superseded, he advanced rapidly with his army. On this the brag- 
gart chiefs of the Achseans retreated in all haste, not endeavouring 
to make a stand even at Thermopylae. Their army dispersed 
almost without a blow. Metellus pushed straight on towards the 
Isthmus. Thebes he found deserted by her inhabitants : misery 
and desolation appeared everywhere. 

§ 7. Diseus prepared to defend Corinth. But popular terror 
had succeeded to popular passion ; few citizens would enlist nnder 
his banner : though he emancipated a number of slaves, he could 
not muster more than 15,000 men. 

When Metellus was almost within sight of Corinth, Mummius 
landed on the Isthmus with his legions, and assumed the 
command. The Romans treated the enemy with so much 
contempt that one of their outposts was surprised ; and Diseus 
flushed with this small success, drew out his forces before the 
city. Mummius eagerly accepted the challenge, and the battle 
began. The Achsean cavalry fled at the first onset ; the in- 
fantry was soon broken, and Diseus fled into one gate of Co- 
rinth and out of another without attempting further resistance. 
The Romans might have entered the city that same day ; but 
seeing the strength of the Acropolis, and suspecting treachery, 
Mummius held back, and twenty-four hours elapsed before he 



Chap. XLV. MUMMIUS— POLYBIUS. 479 

took possession of his unresisting prey. But the city was 
treated as if it had been taken by assault ; the men were put 
to the sword, the women and children reserved to be sold by 
auction. All treasures, all pictures, all the works of the famous 
artists who had moulded Corinthian brass into effigies of living 
force and symmetry, were seized by the Consul on behalf of the 
State; then, at a given signal, fire was applied, and Corinth was 
reduced to a heap of ashes. 

§ 8. Mummius, a New Man was distinguished by the rude- 
ness rather than by the simplicity of an Italian boor. He was 
not greedy, for he reserved little for himself; and Avhen he 
died, his daughter found not enough left for her dowry ; but his 
abstinence seems to have proceeded from indifference rather than 
self-denial. He cared not for the works of Grecian art. He 
suffered his soldiers to use one of the choicest works of the 
painter Aristides as a draft-board ; but when Attains offered 
him a large sum for the painting, he imagined it must be a 
talisman, and ordered it to be sent to Rome. Every one knows 
his speech to the seamen who contracted to carry the statues 
and pictures of Corinth to Rome. "If they lost or damaged 
them," he said, " they must replace them with others of equal 
value." 

§ 9. In the autumn ten commissioners arrived, as usual, with 
draughts of decrees for settling the future condition of Macedon 
and Greece. Polybius, who had returned from witnessing the 
conflagration of Carthage just in time to behold that of Corinth, 
had the melancholy satisfaction of being called to their coun- 
sels, — a favour which he owed to the influence of Scipio. A 
wretched sycophant proposed to the commissioners to destroy 
the statues of Aratus and Philopoemen ; but Polybius prevented 
this dishonour by showing that these eminent men had always 
endeavoured to keep peace with Rome. At the same time he 
declined to accept any part of the confiscated property of Diseus. 
Politically he was able to render important services. All Greece 
south of Macedonia and Epirus was formed into a Roman Pro- 
vince under the name of Achaia. The old republican govern- 
ments of the various communities were abolished, and the con- 
stitution of each assimilated to that of the municipal cities of 
Italy. Polybius was left in Greece to settle these new con- 
stitutions, and to adjiist them to the circumstances and wants of 
each place. His grateful countrymen raised a statue to his 
honour by the side of their old heroes, and placed an inscription 
on the pedestal, which declared that, if Greece had followed 
his advice, she would not have fallen. 

Such was the issue of the last struggle for Grecian liberty. It 



480 CONQUEST OP THE WORLD. BOOK Y. 

was conducted by unworthy men, and was unworthy of the name 
it bore. Polybius had always opposed attempts at useless and 
destructive insurrection. He considered it happy for Greece 
that one battle and the ruin of one city consummated her fall. 
Indeed it was a proverb of the day that "Greece was saved by 
her speedy fall." 

§ 10. The ten commissioners passed northwards into Mace- 
donia, and formed that country, in conjunction with Epirus, into 
another Province, with institutions for municipal government 
much the same as those which had been established in Greece. 
It is probable that Illyria also was constituted as a Province at 
the same time. 

§ 11. Metellus and Mummius both returned to Rome before 
the close of ] 46 B.C., and were honoured with triumphs not long 
after Scipio had carried the spoils of Carthage in procession to 
the Capitol. In memory of their respective services, Metellus 
was afterwards known by the name of Macedonicus, while 
Mummius, who appears to have had no third name of his own, 
was not ashamed to assume the title of Achalcus. 



CHAPTER XLVI. 

THIRD PUNIC WAR : FALL OF CARTHAGE. (150 146 B.C.) 

§ 1. Flourishing trade of Carthage: the Senate encourages Masinissa to 
attack her. § 2. The popular party prevails at Carthage: CommissioH 
headed by Cato : delenda est Carthago. § 3. Masinissa restores the oligarchy 
at Carthage : the Senate declares "War against Carthage. § 4. The Consuls 
land in Africa : treachery by which Carthage is induced to strip herself of 
all means of defence. § 5. Popular indignation : preparations for a des- 
perate defence. § 6. Policy of Masinissa. § 7. Description of Carthage. 
§ 8. HI success of ManOius and Censorinus. § 9. Death of Masinissa: 
distribution of his kingdom. § 10. Hamilcar Phamseas deserts to Eomans. 
§ 11. Second Campaign: continued ill success. § 12. Scipio elected 
Consul. § 13. Third campaign: Scipio carries the suburb of Megara. 
§ 14. Great siege-works. § 15. Fourth campaign: Sack of Carthage. 
§ 16. Surrender of Hasdrubal and the Citadel: Scipio's reflesions. § 17. 
Future of Carthage. 

§ 1. Before Corintli fell, Cartilage also had ceased to exist. 
We saw Hannibal reform tlie corrupt administration of his 
native city, and put her in the way of recovering even from the 
heavy blow which she had suffered after the defeat of Zaiaaf 
We saw him compelled to leave Africa at the instance of the 
Roman Senate. But his acts lived after him. The trade of 
Carthage revived rapidly, and the disturbed condition of the East 
threw a large commerce into the hands of her merchants. 

The Senate could not look with equanimity on this state of 
affairs ; and Masinissa was given to understand that he would 
not be prevented from enriching himself at the expense of his 
neighbours. The unscrupulous Numidian did not require a 
second hint. He overran and plundered the most fertile pro- 
vinces dependent upon Carthage ; and the Carthaginians, find- 
ing the Senate deaf to all complaints, at last prayed to be 
allowed to plead their cause before some fair tribunal, or, if 
not, to use arms in self-defence. " The Carthaginians," they 
said, " would rather be the slaves of Rome than subject to the 
depredations of Masinissa. Better die at once than live at the 
mercy of that Numidian robber !" Nevertheless they were again 
put off with promises and delays. 

§ 2. It appears that at this time parties ran high at Carthage. 
The old oligarchical party, which had expelled Hannibal, was dis- 
posed to maintain peace at any price. But about the year 151 
B.C., the popular party got the upper hand, and the new Govern- 

21 



482 CONQUEST OP THE WORLD. Book V. 

ment resolved openly to oppose the encroachments of Masi- 
nissa. It was at this time that Cato, now eighty-four years 
of age, was seized by a sort of fanatic desire for the destruc- 
tion of Carthage. So long as the hateful rival flourished, he 
contended there could be no safety for Rome. Scipio Nasica, 
who for his prudence and sagacity had received the name of 
Corculum, opposed this opinion with all his eloquence, and so 
far prevailed that before declaring war a Commission was sent 
to Africa, headed by Cato himself, with full powers to settle 
all disputes between Carthage and Masimssa. The Commis- 
sioners began by requiring that both parties should enter into a 
bond to submit absolutely to their decisions. Masinissa of course 
consented ; but the Carthaginians naturally demurred to throw 
themselves on the mercy of Cato, and the Commissioners returned 
to Rome. Once more Cato rose in the Senate, and gave a glow- 
ing description of the power and wealth of Carthage. Unfolding 
his gown, he produced some giant figs, which he held up, and 
said, " These figs grow but three days' sail from Rome. Every 
speech," he added, " which I make in this house shall finish 
with the words, — ' ray opinion is, that Carthage must he destroyed 
— delenda est Carthago^ " From that day the doom of Carthage 
was fixed. 

§ 3. An opportunity soon offered for interference (150 B.C.). 
•ssThe banished oligarchy sought the aid of Masinissa, and the old 
Chief promptly led a large army into the territory of Carthage. 
The new Government had levied a considerable force, which they 
put under the command of an ofiicer named Hasdrubal. It was 
not long before a battle was fought, in which the Numidians 
won the day. It happened that young Scipio had just then 
been sent by Lucullus from Spain to obtain a supply of elephants 
from Masinissa ; and he was a spectator of the battle from a 
neighbouring eminence, — " a sight," as he told Polybius, " that 
no one had enjoyed since the time when Jupiter looked down 
from Ida upon the battle of the Greeks and Trojans." It must 
have been a remarkable sight to behold old Masinissa, then past 
ninety years of age, charge like a boy of nineteen at the head of 
his wild Numidian horse. 

Masinissa soon reduced the army of the enemy to such straits 
that the Government of Carthage was compelled to yield. 
The popular party was once more deprived of power ; and the 
wealthy merchants, who now recovered the government, pre- 
pared to make submission to the Senate. They proclaimed Has- 
drubal and the leaders of the war party guilty of high treason, 
and sent envoys to Rome with humble apologies ; but they were 
too late. The Consuls elect for the year 149 b.c, L. Censorinus 



Chap. XL VI. THIRD AND LAST PUNIC WAR. 483 

and M. Manilius, began to hold their levies before the Carthagi- 
nian envoys arrived. The latter knew not well how to act, but 
at length resolved to place Carthage and all her possessions at the 
absolute disposal of the Senate. It was answered that they 
had done well. The Fathers pledged their word that Carthage 
should be left free, if 300 of the noblest youths were sent as host- 
ages to meet the Consuls at Lilybseum; from them the Government 
should learn the further commands of the Senate. 

§ 4. The Carthaginian Government complied with the demand, 
not without secret alarm as to what these " further commands" 
might be. A heart-rending scene ensued when the 300 hostages 
were torn from their parents' arms. At Lilybseum the Consuls 
received those pledges of submission, coldly signifying that they 
should land their army in Africa within a few days, and would then 
declare the will of the Senate. Accordingly the poor boys were 
sent to Eome, and the fleet anchored in the harbour of Utica, 
while the legions took up their quarters in the old camp of Scipio 
at the mouth of the Bagradas. Here another deputation from the 
trembling Government of Carthage appeared before the Consuls, 
who received them sitting on their chairs of state, with their 
officers around them, and the army drawn out in order. The 
deputies recapitulated the acts of submission which Carthage had 
made, and humbly asked what more could be required. Censo- 
rinus replied, that, " as Carthage was now under the protection 
of Rome, they would no longer have occasion to engage in war : 
they must therefore give up all their arms and engines without 
reserve." This hard condition also was accepted. The force 
of the City may be in some measure estimated from the fact 
that 200,000 stand of anns and 2000 catapults were delivered up 
to Scipio Nasica, who conveyed them to the Roman camp, fol- 
lowed by the chiefs of the Government, who imagined that they 
had drained the cup of humiliation to the dregs. They were 
grievously mistaken. The Consuls thought that the City was 
now wholly disabled, and they let drop the mask. Censorinus 
calmly informed the unhappy men, that "so long as they pos- 
sessed a fortified city near the sea, Rome could not feel sure of 
their submission : therefore it was the will of the Senate that 
they must remove to some point ten miles distant from the 
coast : Carthage must he destroyed^ On hearing their final doom, 
the wretched Carthaginians fell stupefied to the ground ; and 
when they found utterance, broke into passionate exclamations 
against the perjured Senate. The Consuls waited in stern 
silence till these paroxysms were past ; and when the miserable 
men represented, in terms of penitent humility, " that the Senate 
had guaranteed the freedom of Carthage, that such a measure 



484 CONQUEST OF THE WOELD. Book V. 

must destroy this freedom by destroying her commerce and her 
means of subsistence," Censorinus replied, with the same cold 
brevity as before, that " the guarantee of the Senate referred to 
the people of Carthage, not to her houses. In short, the will of 
the Senate was as he had declared it : it must be done, and done 
quickly." 

§ 5. The envoys, being also the chiefs of the Government, feared to 
carry back these ill-omened commands. Some of them absconded ; 
the rest approached the city, and found every avenue lined with 
people eager to learn their destiny. They spoke no word, but 
their downcast looks and gloomy silence proclaimed them mes- 
sengers of evil. The crowd followed to the Council-chamber, 
where they delivered their report with closed doors. A cry of 
horror burst from the assembled Councillors, and the crowd, im- 
patient of delay, broke open the doors, and demanded to know the 
fatal news. It was impossible to conceal the truth. The popular 
fury knew no bounds. The members of the Government who had 
made submission to Rome were obliged to flee for their lives. 
All Italians found within the city were massacred. Once more 
the popular party seized the government ; and the residue of the 
Council voted to defend themselves to the uttermost, rather than 
die the lingering death to which the Romans had condemned 
them. Hasdrubal, lately proclaimed a traitor, had levied a force 
of 20,000 men, with whom he Avas plundering the territory of 
Carthage on his own account : he was now invited to become 
the General of the Republic. Another Hasdrubal, a kinsman 
of Masinissa, was invested with command within the city. A 
message was sent to the Consuls, requesting an armistice of 
thirty days, in order to send an embassy to Rome : this was re- 
fused. Despair gave unnatural courage. The temples and public 
buildings were converted into workshops ; men and women 
worked day and night manufacturing arms ; every day 100 
shields were turned out, 300 swords, 500 pikes and javelins, 1000 
catapult-bolts. The women cut off" their long hair to be twisted 
into strings for the new catapults. Corn was assiduously collected 
from every quarter. 

§ 6. The Consuls, who were men of the Forum rather than 
the Camp, were not a little disappointed at this turn of affairs. 
They dallied for a time, hoping that on reflexion the Carthagi- 
nians would give up all thoughts of an armed defence. The 
conduct of Masinissa contributed to their irresolution. The 
wily old chief had no mind that, after Carthage had been 
weakened by his arms, Rome should come in and take the 
lion's share. At first the Consuls had not thought it necessary 
to ask for his cooperation : it is plain that they expected to take 



Chap. XLYI. 



THIRD AND LAST PUNIC "WAR. 



485 



the city witliout stroke of sword. But now the case was altered, 
and when they applied to Masinissa, he hung back. 

§ 7. "When it became clear that Carthage must be formally 
besieged, the Consuls still no doubt expected an easy triumph; but 
the defence that followed was one of the most heroic that the world 
has seen. In order to understand its details, it will be necessary 
to describe briefly the site of Carthage. 



A Inner Port. 

B Outer Port. 

C Supposed Outlet to Sea. 

D Scipio's Mole. 

E New Outlet cut by Carthaginians. 

F Cothon. 

G Forum and Temple of Apollo. 

H Temple of Esculapius. 

I Eoman Lines. 

j^ > Eemains of Eoman Cisterns, Temples, &c. y^ 





F JL A 

OF 

TYRIAN CARTHAGE 



Tyrian Carthage (as it may be called, to distinguish it from the 
later Roman Colony) stood on a peninsula which was joined to 
the mainland of Tunis by an isthmus. The city itself measured 
about twenty-three miles round, but did not occupy the whole 
peninsula. The portion occupied by the city seems to have 
been the northern end ;* the southern part being a suburb, 
called Megara, chiefly occupied by gardens. The city itself was 
divided into two quarters, — the Citadel, which was called Bosra, 
and Cothon, or the harbour-quarter. It appears almost certain 

* This is inferred from the fact that the Roman remains now existing, near 
the Arabic vOlage of El Mersa, occupy the southern part. But, as Scipio pro- 
nounced a curse on the site of Tyrian Carthage, it is no less certaui that the 
Roman Colonists avoided this site : indeed Appian expressly asserts it. The 
annexed plan is formed upon this hypothesis. Most writers suppose that 
Tyrian and Roman Carthage were identical. 



486 CONQUEST OP THE WORLD. Book V 

that the harbours, two in number, lay on the north side of the 
isthmus, and are to be identified not with the shallow lake now 
called the Bay of Tunis, but with the salt-pits on the northern 
side. The outermost was the merchants' harbour, protected 
from the sea by a broad pier or mole, and furnished with a 
spacious quay. Inside this, and so much in the heart of the 
city as to be concealed from the view of the outer haven, lay the 
harbour of the navy. In its centre Avas a small island. Both 
island and harbour were surrounded by docks for the reception 
of 220 ships, all furnished with Ionic columns, so as to give the 
whole the appearance of stately colonnades. The admiral resided 
in the island. The entrance of this basin was only 70 feet broad, 
and was kept closed by strong chains drawn across it. The cita- 
del was of course the highest and strongest part of the city. It 
measured about two miles round ; and on the side towards the 
isthmus was defended by three walls, each 30 cubits high and 
consisting of two stories, flanked at intervals by towers rising two 
stories above the wall. Along these walls were stalls for 300 ele- 
phants and 4000 horse, with barracks for 20,000 men. The suburb 
of Megara was defended by a comparatively feeble wall ; for it was 
edged by a low cliif, naturally defensible. 

§ 8. The Consuls divided their army ; Manilius assaulting the 
triple wall abutting on the isthmus, Censorinus directing his attack 
at the end of the pier, where the city wall seemed least strong. But 
all their assaults were gallantly repelled. The season was passing, 
and the hot weather caused the army to suffer greatly. Censorinus 
returned home to hold the Comitia; and the army, commanded by 
Manilius, was only saved from Hasdrubal's assaults by Scipio, who 
was serving under the Consul. 

§ 9. The Senate began to repent of having neglected Masinissa, 
and sent ambassadors to beg for his assistance. But the old chief 
was dead before they arrived. liis character will have shown 
itself sufficiently from the facts already mentioned. He showed no 
scruples in acquiring territory ; but it must be added to his credit, 
that he did much towards humanising the wild tribes who owned 
his sway, and turned many uncultivated tracts into fruitful 
fields. In following years Italy imported much of her corn from 
these districts. 

Of his numerous off'spring only three were legitimate. On his 
death-bed he sent for Scipio, to whom he was attached as the 
heir of the great Africanus, and left the settlement of the succes- 
sion to his judgment. Scipio gave the sceptre to Micipsa, the 
eldest son ; Golossa, the second, was to be General ; the adminis- 
tration of justice was committed to the youngest, Mastanarbal. 
Golossa joined the Eomans at the head of a body of troops ; and 



Chap. XLYI. THIRD AND LAST PUNIO "WAR. 487 

tlius freed tlie Consul from tlie fear of seeing tlie Numidians take 
part with Cartilage. 

§ 10. Before the winter set in, Hamilcar Phamseas, commander 
of the cavalry, the terror of the Roman foraging parties, finding 
that the Numidians had joined Rome, determined to make a 
merit of timely submission to Rome ; and Manilius was overjoyed 
to see this redoubted foe ride into camp in company with Scipio, 
followed by a squadron of African horse. Tidings now came that 
L. Calpurnius Piso, Consul for the next year, was on his way to 
supersede him ; and Manilius sent off Scipio, with Phamaeas as a 
trophy of success to Rome. The army escorted their favourite 
officer to the coast, and prayed him to come back as Consul; for 
all were persuaded that none but Scipio was destined to take 
Carthage. The Senate received Scipio with high distinction, 
and rewarded the traitor Phamseas with splendid presents. His 
desertion was the only piece of success which two Consuls and a 
great army had won in a whole campaign. 

§ 11. The next year (148 b.c.) passed still less prosperously. 
Piso did not attempt to assault the city, but employed his fleet 
and army in buccaneering expeditions along the coast. Discon- 
tent and disorder spread amongst the soldiery ; and the Consul 
went early into winter-quarters at Utica. Meantime the spirits 
of the Carthaginians rose. Their bitter enemy, old Cato, had just 
died, at the age of 85. Bithyas, a Numidian chief, deserted from 
Golossa with a large body of cavalry. The Numidian Hasdrubal, 
who commanded the garrison, being suspected of intriguing with 
his cousin Golossa, was put to death, and the other Hasdrubal 
took command in the city. News also arrived of the Macedonian 
war; and it was hoped that the Romans might be altogether 
baffled. 

§ 12. Meanwhile discontent arose high at Rome. Both Senate 
and People had expected to reap a rich booty at Carthage with 
little trouble, and the faineans who had disappointed them could 
hardly appear in public. It was well known that Scipio was the 
darling of the army. Old Cato had said of him, in a line of 
Homer, that 

" Onlj he has living force, the rest are fleeting shades." * 

The People clamoured for his election as Consul, though by the 
Lex Annalis he was not eligible, for he was but thirty-eight years 
of age, and was now a candidate for the -^dileship. He was, 
however, elected Consul at the Comitia; and the Senate yielded. 
§ 13. Early in the next year (147 b.c.) Scipio set sail for Utica 

* oloc TTeirvvrai, toI di ckloI utaaovcn, Horn. Od. xi. 10 ; a quotation which 
shows that the old man had made progress in his late lore. 



488 CONQUEST OP THE "WORLD. Book Y. 

with, new levies, attended "by Polybius. C. Lselius, son of that 
Lselius who had enjoyed the confidence of Africanus, had com- 
mand of the fleet. The Consul fixed his head-quarters in a camp 
commanding the Isthmus of Carthage ; and here his first business 
was to restore discipline in the disorganised army. He ordered 
the crowd of idlers and hucksters, who were following the camp 
for plunder or petty traffic, to leave it immediately; and enforced 
strict discipline. 

He then directed an attack against the suburb of Megara. 
Planks were laid from a detached tower to the wall ; and thus a 
party of soldiers descended into the place, and threw the gate 
open to their comrades. Tib. Gracchus the younger, destined to 
become famous in Roman history, was the first who mounted the 
wall. The loss of this suburb of gardens must have^ been of 
great moment to the Carthaginians; for it deprived them of a 
great source of provisions. Hasdrubal showed his vexation by 
putting his prisoners to death in sight of the Romans. In vain 
the Council endeavoured to restrain him : the savage soldier 
was now lord of Carthage, and determined to commit himself 
and his men to a desperate defence. He was a greedy tyrant, 
who fed his gross corpulence by luxurious living, while others 
were starving ; and aff'ected the pompous demeanour of an 
Oriental despot, rather than the simplicity of a patriot soldier. 
His men alone shared the provisions, 'which now began to come 
scantily into the city. The unhappy townsmen began to feel 
the miseries of want. 

§ 14. For not only had Scipio taken Megara ; he had drawn 
strong lines across the isthmus so as to cut off the city from all 
land supplies ; and the fleet blockaded the harbour, so as to 
make it difficult to send in provisions by sea. Still, light vessels 
contrived to press into the harbour under full sail, when 
the wind blew strongly landwards and prevented the Roman ships 
from keeping the sea. Scipio determined to cut oiF even these 
precarious supplies by throwing an embankment across the 
mouth of the harbour.* The work was one of infinite labour, 
and made but slow progress. The Carthaginians, however, 
saw that it must ultimately succeed, and began to cut a canal 
from the inside, so as to open a new entrance from the sea into 
their harbour. Before the end of the year this work was com- 
pleted, and, moreover, a fleet of fifty ships had been secretly 
built in the inner port. By the time Scipio's embankment was 
finished, the Romans had the mortification to see this new fleet 
sail out by the new entrance ; so that it seemed as if all their 

* This embankment no doubt assisted in choking up the harbour, and 
reducing it to its present condition. 



Chap. XLYI. THIRD AND LAST PUNIC WAR. ' 489 

labour had been thrown away. For two days they allowed the 
Carthaginian fleet to insult them with impunity. But on the 
third they attacked it with all their ships. The battle lasted till 
evening with some advantage to the Carthaginians. But as the 
latter fell back to the new entrance, they found the passage im- 
peded by small craft ; and in the confusion which ensued, the 
Romans succeeded in destroying the greater part of the new 
'fleet. 

§ 15. At the beginning of spring (146 e.g.), Scipio resumed the 
oftensive. While he made a feigned attack upon the walls of 
Cothon, Lselius succeeded in forcing an entrance on the other 
side of the city, and at evening the Eoman legions bivouacked 
in the Marketplace of Carthage. But a long and terrible struggle 
was still before them. From the Marketplace three streets con- 
verged towards the Citadel. These streets were all strongly 
barricaded ; and the houses on each side rising to the height of 
six stories, were occupied by the Carthaginians. A series of 
street-fights ensued, which lasted several days. The Romans 
were obliged to carry the first houses on each street by assault, 
and then to force their way by breaking through from house to 
house, and driving the enemy along the flat roofs. The cross 
streets or lanes were passed by bridges of planks. Thus they 
slowly advanced to the wall of Bosra. When they had reached 
this point the city was set on fire behind them. Six days and 
nights the flames continued to rage ; and as they slackened, the 
Roman legionaries were employed as pioneers to clear thorough- 
fares for the free passage of men and horses. 

§ 16. During the great labour of the last days Scipio alone 
sought no rest. At length, worn out by anxiety and fatigue, he 
lay down to repose on an eminence commanding a view of the 
Temple of Esculapius, whi&h, with its gilded roof, crowned the 
heights of Bosra. He had not long been here, when the Cartha- 
ginian garrison, seeing no longer any hope, ofi"ered to surrender 
the Citadel, on condition of their lives being spared. Scipio con- 
sented for all, except Roman deserters ; and 50,000 men defiled out 
of the gates of Bosra as prisoners of war. Then Hasdrubal and his 
family, with 900 deserters and other desperadoes, retired into the 
Temple of Esculapius, as if to make a brave defence. But the 
Commandant's heart failed him ; and, slipping out alone, he threw 
himself at the feet of Scipio, and craved for pardon. His wife, 
standing on the base of the temple, was near enough to witness 
the sight, and reproaching her husband with cowardice, cast her- 
self with her children into the flames, which were now wrapping 
the Citadel round on all sides. Hasdrubal's life Avas spared to 
grace the triumph of the conqueror; most of the deserters 

■ 21* 



490 CONQUEST OP THE WORLD. Book V. 

perislied in the flames ; those who escaped, or were taken else- 
where, were trampled to death by elephants. 

It was during these scenes of horror, that Scipio, with Polybius 
at his side, gazed upon the burning city, and involuntarily vented 
his hio-h-wrought feeling in two well-known verses of Homer ;* 

" The day shall come, when sacred Troy shall be levelled with the plain, 
And Priam and the people of that good warrior slain." 

" Assyria," he said, " had fallen, and Persia and Macedon. Car- 
thage was burning. Rome's day might come next !" 

For five days the soldiery were allowed to range the ruined 
city, glutting their wild passions. Yet enough of statues and 
valuables of all sorts fell into the hands of the Proconsul, to 
adorn a triumph little less magnificent than that in which he 
had followed his father Paullus one-and-twenty years before. 
Before he left Africa, he celebrated magnificent games, in which 
all the spoil was displayed to the army, as had been done by 
Paullus in Macedonia. 

§ 17. Scipio had written laconically to the Senate, that " Car- 
thage was taken, and the army waited for further orders." Amid 
the exultation of all classes, a Decree was passed that the walls 
should be destroyed, and every house within them levelled to 
the ground. A solemn curse was pronounced by Scipio on any 
one who should rebuild a town on the same site. Not many 
years after, C. Gracchus was sent to found a colony on the 
site of Carthage, — a design which failed; and its failure was 
attributed to the curse of Scipio. But the same design was 
renewed by the great Julius, and accomplished by Augustus. 
This Colony, which rose to be a noble city, and in the second 
century of the Christian era might be regarded as the metropolis 
of Western Christendom, stood (as stated above) at the southern 
end of the Peninsula, where the Moorish fortress of Goletta now 
commands the entrance of the Bay of Tunis. 

Utica, for her timely submission, was rewarded with a portion 
of the dominions of Carthage. The remaining territory was 
formed into a province under the name of Libya, and placed 
under the government of a Eoman Magistrate, being the fourth 
Province added to the empire in this one year. 

Such was the end of Carthage, after an existence of more than 
seven centuries. 

* II. iv. 164: eaaETac rjjj-ap, orav ■kot' oluT^ri 'Wtog Ifnj, 
Koi lipisanog Kal Aaog ivfi/ueAiu Ilpia.fJ.oio. 



CHAPTER XLVII. 

SPANISH WARS : FALL OF NUMANTIA. (149 133 B.C.) ' 

§ 1. "War with the Lusitanians under Viriathus, and with Numantia. § 2. 
Celtiberian "War: Metellus Macedonicus: Treaty of Mancinus. § 3. 
Lusitaniau "War : Treaty of Q. Fabius Servihanus, broken by Q. ServiUus 
Csepio : Murder of Viriathus. § 4. Discussion on the Treaty of Mancinus : 
he is given up to the Numantians: their conduct. § 5. Dec. Brutus 
carries Roman arms into Gallsecia : surnamed Callaicus. § 6. Scipio : his 
hfe since the Fall of Carthage. § 7. His popularity: elected Consul for 
the Numantian War. § 8. Measures for restoring discipUne. § 9. He 
appears before Numantia: Unes of investment. § 10. Misery of the 
Numantians. § 11. Surrender and destruction of Numantia. 

§ 1. While Eome was engaged in war with Carthage, the Lusi- 
tanians resumed their inroads under the conduct of the gallant 
Viriathus, who had escaped from the massacre of Galba. No 
Roman general could gain any positive advantage over this 
indefatigable enemy, and in the year 143 B.C. the war assumed a 
much more serious aspect. The brave Celtiberian tribes of 
Numantia and its adjacent districts again appeared in the field. 
For several years we find two Roman commanders engaged in 
Spain, as before the Treaty of Gracchus : one opposed to the 
Numantians and their Celtiberian allies in the North, the other 
carrying on an irregular warfare against Viriathus and the Lusi- 
tanians in the South. 

§ 2. The conduct of the Celtiberian War was committed to 
Q. Metellus Macedonicus, who had been elected Consul for the 
year 143. He remained in command for two years, and was so 
successful in his measures that by the close of the second cam- 
paign he had compelled the enemy to shut themselves up in their 
strong cities. But he was disappointed, as in Greece, by finding 
anticipated triumph snatched from his grasp by Q. Pompeius, 
Consul for the year 141 b.c. 

Pompeius and his successors could make no impression upon 
the Numantians. Nay, C. Hostilius Mancinus, Consul for the 
year 137, suffered a memorable reverse. Mancinus set out for 
his province amid general alarm, excited by the unfavourable 
omens at his inaugural sacrifices. He was attended as Quaestor 
by young Tib. Gracchus, who had already distinguished himself 
at the siege of Carthage. Mancinus found the army before 
Numantia in a state of complete disorganisation, and deemed 



492 CONQUEST OF THE WOSLD. BookV. 

it prudent to retreat from his position in front of that city. The 
Numantians pursued and pressed him so hard that he was obliged 
to entrench'himself in an old camp, and send a herald with offers 
to treat on condition that his army should be spared. The enemy 
consented, but only on the miderstanding that young Gracchus 
was to make himself responsible for the execution of the treaty. 
Articles of peace were accordingly signed by Mancinus himself, 
with Gracchus and all the chief officers of the army. 

Before we notice the sequel of the famous Treaty of Mancinus, 
it will be well to follow the Lusitanian War to its conclusion. 

§ 3. Here also the fortune of Rome was in the decline. Q. 
Fabius Servilianus was surprised by Viriathus in a narrow defile, 
and so shut up that escape was impossible. The Lusitanian cap- 
tain offered liberal terms, which were gladly accepted by the Pro- 
consul. This peace was approved by the Senate, and Viriathus 
was acknowledged as the ally of Rome. 

But Q. Servilius Csepio, brother by blood of Servilianus, was 
little satisfied by the prospect of an inactive command. By impor- 
tunity he wrung from the Senate permission to break the peace 
so lately concluded by his brother, and ratified by themselves, — 
a permission basely given and more basely used. Caepio assailed 
Viriathus, when he little expected an attack, with so much 
vigour that the chief was fain to seek refuge in Gallsecia, and 
sent envoys to ask Caepio on what ground the late treaty was 
no longer observed. Caepio sent back the messengers with fair 
words, but privily bribed them to assassinate their master. They 
were too successful in their purpose, and returned to claim their 
blood-money from the Consul. But he, with double treachery, 
disowned the act, and referred them to the Senate for their 
reward. 

The death of Viriathus Avas the real end of the Lusitanian 
War. He was (as even the Roman writers allow) brave, generous, 
active, vigilant, patient, faithful to his word ; and the manner in 
which he baflled all fair and open assault of the disciplined armies 
of Rome gives a high conception of his qualities as a guerilla 
chief. His countrymen, sensible of their loss, honoured him with 
a splendid military funeral. The Senate, with a wise moderation 
which might have been adopted years before, assigned lands to 
a portion of the mountaineers within the Province, thus at length 
making good the broken promises of Galba. 

§ 4. Such was the discreditable termination of the Lusitanian 
War. We must now return to Mancinus and his Treaty. 

He returned to defend his conduct before the Senate. He 
pleaded that the army was so demoralised that no man could 
wield it with effect, and admitted that he had concluded a treaty 



Chap. XLYII. NUMANTIAN WAR. 493 

Avith Numantia without the authority of the Senate and People ; 
as that treaty was not approved, he declared himself ready to 
support a bill for delivering up the persons of himself and all 
who had signed it to the Numantians. Such a bill was accord- 
ingly brought before the Tribes. But young Gracchus upheld 
the treaty, and Scipio, his brother-in-law, made an eloquent 
speech in his behalf. But the people, always jealous of defeat, 
voted for delivering up Mancinus alone as an expiatory offering. 
Accordingly a person, consecrated for this special purpose, car- 
ried him to Numantia. But the Spaniards, like the Samnites of 
old, refused to accept such a compensation ; one man's body, 
they said, was no equivalent for the advantage they had lost. 
Mancinus, therefore, returned to Rome. But when he took his 
place in the Senate, the Tribune Rutilius ordered him to leave 
the Curia, because, he said, one who had been delivered over to 
the enemy with religious ceremony was no longer. a citizen of 
Rome, and could not recover his rights by simply returning to 
his country.* A special law was introduced to restore Mancinus 
to his former position.f 

§ 5. Dec. Junius Brutus, Consul for 138, an able officer, was 
entrusted with the pacification of Lusitania : the town of Valentia 
owes its origin to a colony of this people planted there by him. 
After finishing this business, he carried his arms northward across 
the Tagus, the Douro, and the Minho, and received homage from 
the Tribes of the Western Pyrenees. He was the first Roman 
who reached the shores of the Bay of Biscay, and saw the sun set 
in the waters of the Atlantic ; and he was not unjustly honoured 
with the name of Callalcus J for his successes. 

§ 6. But Numantia still defied the arms of Rome. Men began 
to clamour for a Consul fit to command ; and all eyes fell upon 
Scipio. His qualities as a general had been tested by success at 
Carthage, and circumstances had since occurred which raised him 
to great popularity. 

After his triumph in 146 B.C., Scipio had continued to lead the 
simple life in which he had been bred, and which not all the 
wealth he inherited from his adoptive father induced him to 
abandon. He affected an austerity of manners, which almost 
emulated that of Cato, though he was free from the censorius 
dogmatism and rude eccentricities of that celebrated man. In 

* Such a recovery of rights was called Postliminium. For the legal opinions 
on both sides see Cicero de Oral. i. 40, de Off. iii. 30, pro Ccecina, 34. 

f The rights of the question have already been discussed in speaking of the 
simQar transaction at the Furculse Caudinse. Chapt. xxii. § 8. 

I From Callaecia or Gallsecia, the ancient name of tb*^ district in the N.W. 
of Spain, still called GalUcia. 



494 CONQUEST OF THE -WORLD. Book V. 

142 B.C. lie was elected Censor in conjunction with Mummius, who 
so th-warted all the efforts of his colleague to promote reforms 
that the latter publicly exclaimed, " I should have been able to 
do my duty, either with a colleague or without one." Scipio 
had gained a clear conception of the unsound state of things, 
which long-continued wars and Senatorial government had pro- 
duced. In the prayer, which he offered on entering upon the 
Censor's office, he altered the usual form ; and instead of asking 
that " the gods would increase and magnify the power of Rome," 
he said, " I pray that they may preserve it ; it is great enough 
already." 

§ 7. His frugal life carried with it a guarantee of honesty and 
devotion to public interests, which would alone have secured him 
public favour. But several of his acts gained him more direct 
popularity. The son of his kinsman Nasica, nicknamed Serapio, 
had joined the high oligarchical party. But the son of -^milius 
Paullus, on the few occasions on which he appeared in public, 
took the popular side. In 137, the Tribune Cassius proposed the 
first law for taking votes by secret ballot,* with the intention 
of neutralising the undue influence of the Senators. Scipio came 
forward and addressed the people in favour of this law. As his 
popularity was increased, his favour with the Senate proportion- 
ably fell. Six years before, when he was canvassing for the 
Censorship, App. Claudius, seeing the motley crowd which fol- 
lowed him, exclaimed : — " Ah, ^milius, it would trouble thy 
spirit to see thy son followed by such a crew." Yet he courted 
not popularity : he seldom even visite^ the Forum, though he 
spoke with force and eloquence when he chose. When the same 
Appius boasted that he knew all who frequented the Forum by 
name, Scipio replied : — " True, I do not know many of my fellow- 
citizens by name, but I have taken care that all should know 
me." Popularity came unasked, and the People cast their eyes 
upon him to retrieve the dishonour of the Roman arms in Spain. 
Legally he could not hold the Consulship, for a law had been 
lately passed forbidding a second election in any case. But 
Scipio received the votes of every Century, though he was not a 
candidate. 

§ 8. He was now fifty-one years of age, and he proceeded to 
execute his commission with the same steady vigour which dis- 

* These Leges TabellaricB (as the Romans called them, iabella being their 
word for a iallot) were four in number : 1. The Gabinian (139 B.C.), intro- 
ducing the use of the Ballot at Elections. 2. Tlie Gassian (131), introducing 
it in all state-trials, except in the case of high-treason (perduellio). 3. The 
Papirian (131), introducing it into the Legislative Assembly. 4. The Ccelian 
(107), which cancelled the single exception made by the Gassian Law. 



Chap, XLVII. NUMANTIAN WAR. 495 

tinguished liiin on other occasions. He found the demoralisation 
of the army not less than it had been described, and he applied 
himself to correct it with the same severity that his father had 
iised in Macedonia, and he himself had used before Carthage. 
All courtesans and hucksters, together with fortune-tellers who 
drove a lucrative trade in the dispirited army, he commanded to 
quit the camp. All carriages, horses, and mules he ordered to be 
sold, except those that were needed for actual service. No cook- 
ing utensils were allowed except a spit, a camp-bottle, and a 
drinking-cup. Dow^n beds were forbidden : the general himself 
slept upon a straw pallet. 

§ 9. After some time spent in training his army, he led it to 
Numantia by a difficult and circuitous route, in order to avoid a 
battle. As he approached the place he was joined by young Ju- 
gurtha, a bastard son of Micipsa, who came from Numidia with 
twelve elephants and a large body of light cavalry. By this time 
the season for war was nearly over, and he ordered two strong 
camps to be formed for winter-quarters. In one he fixed himself, 
the other he put under the command of his brother Fabius. 

With the beginning of spring (133 b.c.) he began to draw lines 
of circumvallation round the city, and declined all attempts made 
by the Numantians to provoke a general action, — a circumstance 
which is rather surprising, if it be true that the available troops of 
the Spanish city amounted to no more than 8000 men. 

§ 10. Numantia lay on both sides of the Douro, not far from its 
source. The blockade was so strict, and the inhabitants were so 
ill provided, that in no long time they were reduced to feed on 
boiled leather, and at length (horrible to tell) on the bodies of the 
dead. In vain those who retained sufficient strength attempted 
sallies by day and night ; Scipio had established so complete a 
system, that additional troops were always ready to strengthen any 
weak point which might be assailed. In vain did the young men 
of Lubia endeavour to relieve their brave neighbours. Scipio 
promptly marched to that place with a division of light troops, 
and, having compelled the government to surrender 400 of the 
most active sympathisers, he cut off their right hands and returned. 
Such was the cruelty which the most enlightened men of Rome 
permitted themselves to use towards barbarians. Nor does any 
ancient historian whisper a word of reproach. 

§11, The wretched Numantians now inquired on what terms 
they might be admitted to surrender. The reply was, that on that 
very day they must lay down their arms, and on the next appear 
at a given place. They prayed for time to deliberate. In the 
interval a certain number of brave men, resolved not to submit 
on any terms, put themselves to death ; the remnant came forth 



496 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. Book V. 

from the gates. Their matted hair, squalid apparel, and wasted 
forms made even the Romans turn away in horror from their own 
work. Scipio selected fifty to walk in his triumphal procession, 
and sold the rest. The town was so eftectually destroyed that its 
very site cannot be discovered. 

Such was the destructive, but riot glorious work, which earned 
for Scipio the name of Numantinus, as the ruin of Carthage had 
given him a better title than adoption to that of Africanus. 

Commissioners were sent, according to custom, to re-organise 
the Spanish Provinces. The conquests of Scipio and of Dec. Bru- 
tus were comprehended in the limits of the Hither Province, and 
for some years Spain remained in tranquillity. 

There was no enemy now left on the coast-lands of the Medi- 
terranean to dispute the Sovereignty of Rome. Nine Provinces, 
each fit to be a kingdom, owned her sway, and poured yearly taxes 
into her revenue. The kings of Asia Minor, of Syria, of Egypt 
were her obedient vassals. 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 

FIRST SLAVE-WAR IN SICILY. (133 131 B.C.) 

§ 1. Increase of Slaves. § 2. Fondness of the Romans for agriculture : decline 
of agriculture. § 3. Immense numbers of Slaves brought to market. §4. 
The Slaves of Apulia become banditti. § 5. Similar state of things in 
Sicily : insurrection breaks out near Enna. § 6. King Eunus. § 7. Enna 
taken by the Slaves: dreadful scenes. § 8. Cleon heads another rising 
near Agrigentum. § 9. Defeat of a Roman Prsetor : spread of the Insur- 
rection. § 10. The War concluded by RupiUus: fate of the Slave-chiefs. 
§ 11. Propitiation of Ceres. § 12. Laws of RupQius for improving the 
state of Sicily. 

§ 1. While Numantia was yet defying the Roman Generals, a war 
broke out near home of a more dreadful kind than any distant 
contest with foreigners could be, — the insurrection of the Slaves in 
Sicily. Some remarks have already been made on the rapid 
increase in the number of Slaves which attended the career of 
Roman conquest ; and it was observed that, while domestic Slaves 
usually were well treated, the agricultural Slaves were thrust down 
to a condition worse than that of the oxen which laboured on the 
land.* The evils which such oppression might engender Avere 
now proved by terrible experience. 

§ 2. Every one knows that in the early times of Rome the 
work of the farm was the only kind of manual labour deemed 
worthy of a free citizen. This feeling long survived, as may be 
seen from the praise bestowed on agriculture by Cicero,f whose 
enthusiasm was caught from one of his favourite heroes, old Cato 
the Censor, whose Treatise on Agriculture has been noticed. 
The taste for books of farming continued. Varro the antiquarian, 
a friend of Cicero, has left an excellent treatise on the subject. 
A little later came the famous Georgics of Virgil, followed at 
no long interval by Pliny's notices, and then by the elaborate 
Dissertations of Columella, who refers to a great number of 
Roman writers on the same subject. It is manifest that the 
subject of agriculture possessed a strong and enduring charm for 
the Roman mind. 

But, from the times of the Hannibalic War, agriculture lost 

* Chapt. xxxvii. § 5. 

•[• " Omnium autem rerum ex quibus aliquid acquiritur nihil est agri cul- 
tura. melius, nihil uberius, nihil dulcius, nihil homine libero dignius." — De 
Off. i. 42, fin. 



498 CONQUEST OP THE WORLD. Book Y. 

ground in Italy. When Cato was asked what was the most 
profitable kind of farming, he said, " Good grazing." What next? 
" Tolerable grazing." What next ? " Bad grazing." What next? 
"Corn-growing."* Later writers, with one accord, deplore the 
diminished productiveness of land. 

This result was due in part, no doubt, to war, but much more 
to other causes. Corn could be imported with facility from the 
southern lands of Sicily, from Egypt, and from Numidia, while a 
great part of Italy was little suited for the production of grain-crops. 
These causes found a powerful assistant in the growth of large 
estates, and the profitable employment of Slaves as shepherds and 
herdsmen. 

§ 3. A few examples will show the prodigious number of Slaves 
that must have been thrown into the market after the Second 
Punic War. To punish the Bruttians for the fidelity with which 
they adhered to the cause of Hannibal, the whole nation were 
made Slaves; 150,000 Epirotes were sold by JEmilius Paullus; 
50,000 captives were sent home from Carthage. These numbers 
are accidentally preserved ; and if, according to this scale, we 
calculate the hosts of unhappy men sold in slavery during the 
Syrian, Macedonian, Illyrian, Grecian, and Spanish Wars, we shall 
be prepared to hear that Slaves fit only for unskilled labour were 
plentiful and cheap. 

There was also a Slave-trade regularly carried on in the East. 
The barbarous tribes on the coasts of the Black Sea were always 
ready to sell their own flesh and blood ; Thrace and Sarmatia 
were the Guinea Coast of the Romans. The entrepot of this trade 
was Delos, which had been made a free port by Rome after the 
conquest of Macedonia.f Strabo tells us that in one day 10,000 
slaves were sold there in open market. Such were the vile uses 
to which was put the Sacred Island, once the treasury of Greece, 
when her states were banded together to secure their freedom 
against the Persian. 

§ 4. It is evident that hosts of slaves, lately free men, and 
many of them soldiers, must become dangerous to the owners. 
Nor was their treatment such as to conciliate. They were 
turned out upon the hills, made responsible for the safety of the 
cattle put under their charge, and compelled to provide them- 
selves with the common necessaries of life. A body of these 
wretched men asked their master for clothing : " What," he 
asked, " are there no travellers with clothes on ?" The atrocious 
hint was soon taken : the shepherd slaves of Lower Italy became 
banditti, and to travel through Apulia without an armed retinue 

* Cicero de Offic. ii. 25, 5. f Chapt. xUv. § 3. 



Chap. XLYni. FIRST SLAVE-WAR. 499 

was a perilous adventure. From assailing travellers, the ma- 
rauders began to plunder the smaller country-houses ; and all but 
the rich were obliged to desert the country and flock into the 
towns. So early as the year 185 b.c, 7000 slaves in Apulia were 
condemned for brigandage by a Praetor sent specially to restore 
order in that land of pasturage. When they were not employed 
upon the hills, they were shut up in large prison-like buildings 
{ergastula), where they could talk together of their wrongs, and 
form schemes of vengeance. 

§ 5. The Sicilian landowners emulated their Italian brethren ; 
and it was their tyrannical conduct that led to the frightful insur- 
rection, which reveals to us somewhat of the real state of society 
which existed under the rule of Rome. 

In Sicily, as in Lower Italy, the herds are driven up into the 
mountain pastures during the summer months, and about Octo- 
ber return towards the plains. The same causes which were at 
Avork in Italy were at work, on a smaller scale, in Sicily. The 
city of Enna, once famous for the worship of Demeter, had be- 
come the centre of a pastoral district, and of the neighbouring 
landowners, Damophilus was the wealthiest. He was famous for 
the multitude of his Slave-herdsmen, and for his cruel treatment of 
them, and his wife Megallis emulated her lord in the barbarities 
which she practised on the female Slaves. At length the cup was 
full, and 400 of his bondsmen, meeting at Enna, took counsels of 
vengeance against Damophilus. 

§ 6. At Enna there lived another rich proprietor, named 
Antigenes; and among his Slaves was a Syrian, known by 
the Greek name of Eunus {F^vvovq). This man was a kind of 
wizard, who pretended to have revelations of the future, and 
practised a mode of breathing fire, which passed for a superna- 
tural power. At length he gave out that his Syrian gods had 
declared to him that he should be king hereafter. His master 
treated him as a jester, and at banquets used to call him in to 
make sport for his guests ; and they, entering into his humour, 
used to beg him to remember them when he gained his sceptre. 
But to the confederate Slaves of Damophilus, Eunus seemed in 
truth a Prophet and a King sent to deliver them. They prayed 
him to become their leader, he accepted their offer ; and the whole 
body entered the city of Enna, with Eunus at their head breathing 
fire. 

§ 7. The wretched city now felt the vengeance of men brutalised 
by oppression. Clad in skins, armed with stakes burnt at the 
end, with reaping-hooks, spits, or whatever arms rage supplied, 
they broke into the houses, and massacred all persons of free 
condition, from the old man and matron to the infant at the 



500 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. Book V. 

breast. Crowds of Slaves joined tliem ; every man's foes were 
those of his own household. Damophilus was dragged to the 
Theatre and slain. Megallis was given over to the female Slaves, 
who first tortured her, and then cast her down the crag on which 
the city stands. 

Eunus thus saw the wildest of his dreams fulfilled. He as- 
sumed the diadem, took the royal name of Antiochus, and called 
his followers Syrians. The ergastula were broken open, and 
numbers of Slaves sallied out to join him. Soon he was at the 
head of 10,000 men. He showed no little discretion in the 
choice of officers. Achseus, a Greek, was made General of the 
army, and he exerted himself to preserve order and moderate 
excesses. 

§ 8. A few days after the massacre at Enna, Cleon, a Cilician 
Slave, raised a similar insurrection near Agrigentum. He also was 
soon at the head of several thousand men. 

The Romans in Sicily, who had looked on in blank dismay, now 
formed hopes that the two leaders might quarrel, — hopes soon 
disappointed by the tidings that Cleon had acknowledged the 
sovereign authority of King Antiochus. 

§ 9. There was no Roman magistrate present in Sicily when the 
insurrection broke out. The Praetor of the last year had returned 
to Italy ; and his successor now arrived, ignorant of all that was 
passing. He contrived to collect 8000 men in the island, and took 
the field against the Slaves, who by this time numbered 20,000. 
He was utterly defeated, and the insurrection spread over the 
whole island. 

The consternation at Rome was great. No one could tell where 
the evil would stop. Movements broke out in various parts of the 
empire ; but the magistrates were on the alert, and all attempts 
were crushed forcibly. At Rome itself one hundred and fifty 
Slaves, detected in organising an outbreak, were put to death 
without mercy. 

§ 10. The insurrection seemed to the Senate so serious that 
they dispatched the Consul, Q. Fulvius Flaccus, colleague of 
Scipio in the year 133 e.g., to crush it. But Flaccus ob- 
tained no advantage over the insurgents. In the next year 
L. Calpurnius Piso succeeded in wresting Messana from the 
enemy, and advanced to Enna, a place strongly defended by 
nature, which he was unable to take. His successor, P. Rupilius, 
a friend of Scipio, began his campaign with the siege of Tauro- 
menium. The Slaves offered a desperate resistance. Reduced 
to straits for want of food, they devoured the children, the 
wjomen, and at length began to prey upon each other. Even 
then the place was only taken by treachery. All the Slaves 



Chap. XLVIII. FIRST SLAVE-WAR. 501 

taken alive were put to the torture and thrown down a precipice. 
The Consul now advanced to Enna, the last stronghold of Eunus. 
The fate of the insurgents was inevitable. Cleon of Agrigentum 
chose a soldier's death, and sallying forth with all who breathed 
the same spirit as himself, he died fighting valiantly. Of the 
end of Achseus we are not informed. Eunus, with a body- 
guard of 600 men, fled to the neighbouring hills ; but, despairing 
of escape, the greater part of the Avretched men slew one another. 
The mock king himself was taken in a cave, with his cook, baker, 
bathing-man, and jester. He showed a pusillanimity far unlike 
the desperate courage of the rest, and died eaten by vermin in a 
dungeon at Murgantia. 

§ 11. Thus was crushed for a time this perilous insurrection, 
the result of the Slave-system established by Roman conquest. 
The well-being of Sicily had even now been so seriously impaired 
that extraordinary measures were deemed necessary for restoring 
order. The Sibylline Books were consulted. The oracular page 
ordered the propitiation of " Ceres the most ancient ;" and a 
solemn deputation of priests proceeded to the august Temple of 
the Goddess in the city of Enna. This circumstance, seemingly 
unimportant, becomes significant, when it is considered that the 
war really originated in the neglect of agricultural labours, and 
was at its height during the notable year in which Tib. Gracchus 
was bringing to all men's knowledge the reduced condition of the 
farmers of Italy. 

§ 12. Ten Commissioners were sent to assist Rupilius in draw- 
ing up laws for the better regulation of the agricultural districts. 
The code formerly established by Hiero at Syracuse was taken as 
the basis of their legislation, a measure which gave great satisfac- 
tion to all the Greek Communities. The whole land was required 
to pay a tithe of its produce to the Romans except the five free 
cities and some others which were allowed to pay a fixed annual 
sum. The collection of these tithes was to be let to Roman 
contractors. But to prevent extortion. Courts of Appeal were 
provided. All disputes between citizens of the same town were 
left to be decided in the town courts ; those between citizens 
of difi'erent towns, by judges drawn by lot under the eye of 
the Prsetor ; those between a town-community and an individual, 
by the Senate of some other city ; those between a Roman citizen 
and a Sicilian, by a judge belonging to the same nation as the 
defendant. There can be bo doubt that the general condition of 
the Sicilian landholders was considerably improved by this system ; 
and agriculture again flourished in Sicily as it had done in former 
times. 




Tomb on the Appian "Way. 



OHAPTEE XLIX. 

THE CONDITION OF KOME AND HER PEOPLE AT THE CLOSE OF THE 
PERIOD OF CONQUEST. 



§ 1. Rise of a New Nobility. § 2. Control of Public Purse now in hands 
of Senate. § 3. Precariousness of Senatorial power. § 4. Growth of a 
wealthy Class, not noble. § 5. Knights equo publico et private : new 
Equestrian Order created by C. Gracchus. § 6. The free citizens con- 
sumed by the wars. § 1. Those who returned migrated to the towns. 
§ 8. Increase of large estates. § 9. How these estates were furnished 
with labour: Metayers. § 10. Growing division between the City and 
the Rural Tribes: what was meant by "Men of the People" at Rome. 
§ 11. Influence of the Nobnity in the Comitiav 

§ 1. An attempt was made to review the condition of Rome and 
lier subjects at the point of time when she had just passed 
through the terrible ordeal of the Hannibalic War, Since that 
we have followed her, for more than a century and a half, in her 
rapid ascent to absolute dominion. -And here again we may 
pause to note the changes that had taken place in her political 
and social system. For though no violent changes are recorded, 
yet silently and surely great alterations had been wrought in 
almost all sorts and conditions of Roman citizens. 



Chap. XLIX. SENATORIAL POWER. • 503 

We have had continually to recognise the increasing power 
of the Senate and the growth of a New Nobility, as compact 
as the old Patrician Oligarchy, and Avielding a mightier power. 
The mark of Nobility was not now, as of old, birth within the 
pale of the Patriciate, but birth within the number of those 
families who could count up successive honours for generations. 
Those were now most noble who possessed the longest file of 
images, that is those whose ancestors had held the greatest 
number of Curule ofiices. 

§ 2. That which secured political supremacy to the Senate was 
what is familiarly called the power of the Purse. No people can 
be free unless they have some control over the expenditure of 
public money ; and at Rome all financial matters were, as we 
have seen, wholly in the hands of the Senate. In earlier times 
this great Council was obliged to levy a war-tax upon the People, 
which served as a check upon its power. But the large sums 
which poured into the treasury for the next few years made 
this tax lighter every year, till with the conquest of Macedon 
it ceased altogether. Henceforth, therefore, there was not even 
an indirect control over the public purse, and no hindrance was 
offered to a vote for declaring Avar. Even Cato, in his deter- 
mination to destroy Carthage, lent himself to the policy of his 
Order. All lucrative employments were seized by the members 
of the great Senatorial families. It was only when diflicult ser- 
vices were required, such as the conquest of Macedon, or the 
reduction of Carthage and Numantia, that the Senate were 
obliged to resort to the services of independent men like JEmilius 
Paullus or his son Scipio. 

§ 3. But while the Senatorial Nobility seemed to be in secure 
possession of nearly all honours, there were not wanting signs 
to show that this possession was precarious. In the first place 
there had grown up of late years a body of wealthy families who 
were debarred from political honours ; and in the second place, 
the condition of the Rustic Population was every day becoming 
so bad as to excite the sympathy of the generous, and to alarm 
the fears of the selfish. 

§ 4. The wealthy class of which we speak was chiefly composed 
of the tax-collectors, public contractors, and other persons 
engaged in commercial pursuits. Just before the second Punic 
War a law had been passed to make it illegal for Senators to 
engage in any kind of commercial adventure ; and to supply the 
constant demand caused by the wars that followed. Companies 
were formed, with a sufficient capital to undertake contracts for 
supplying the army and navy. When one province after another 
was conquered, similiar Companies contracted to collect the im- 



504 • CONQUEST OF THE WOELD. Book V 

posts laid upon the new subjects of Rome, and this soon became 
a large and profitable businesSo The provincial imposts were 
put up to public auction ; the Company which off"ered the 
largest sum, if they could give proper security, received the 
contract; they paid into the Treasury the sum which they had 
offered, and all that they collected over and above this sum they 
divided among themselves : a system well contrived to encourage 
extortion. It was from this wealthy class of contractors and 
commercial men that C. Gracchus created a new order of citi- 
zens to balance the Senators. This was the Equestrian Order, 
the members of which were called Equites or Knights, — a new 
application of an old name which demands explanation. 

§ 5. It has been noticed that by the institutions attributed to 
King Servius the Equites were raised to the number of 3600. 
They were the wealthiest men at Rome, and formed a real body 
of Knights or Chivalry, who served on horseback in the army of 
the city, as all the other Centuries served on foot. They were 
furnished with a horse at the public expense, or rather by a special 
tax laid on the property of widows and orphans, Avho were exempt 
from all other dues. 

As the City increased in power there were many citizens who 
Avere as wealthy as the Equites,* and yet were not of their num- 
ber; and at the siege of Veil many of these citizens came forward 
and offered to serve as horse-soldiers at their own expense. 
Hence arose the distinction of Knights with a Public and Knights 
with a Private Horse. After this time, the Cavalry seem to 
have been regularly furnished by families of a certain amount 
of property ; and the horse bestowed by the State became a 
badge of honour, which was retained by Senators and Consulars, 
though they were no longer liable to serve in the army. The 
whole system was remodelled, as it appears, in the Censorship of 
Fabius and Decius, who were commissioned to counteract the 
measures of Appius Claudius. It was then ordained that on the 
day of the battle of Regillus the Knights who had a public 
horse, clad in purple and wreathed with olive, should ride in 
procession from the Temple of Mars outside the city, to the 
portico of the Temple of Castor and Pollux in the Forum, and 
there dismounting should lead their horses past the Censors, 
who had power to deprive any man of his rank by taking away 
his horse. Such a punishment was inflicted on Livius and Nero, 
the conquerors of Metaurus, each upon the other, and upon 
L. Scipio by Cato. In process of time the distinction between 

* The Census of the Equites in earlier times is not known, but was (it 
may be presumed) larger than that of the First Class. Augustus fixed it at 
400,000 sesterces (about 3500Z.) ; see Horace, 1 Epist. i. 58. 



Chap. XLIX. RURAL POPULATION. 505 

the titular . Equites and the horse-soldiers of the army became 
more and more pronounced, and the possession of a public horse 
became a sort of honorary distinction held in high esteem. The 
Cavaliers became distinct from the Cavalry. 

But a great and complete change took place when C. Gracchus 
raised to the Equestrian Order all who possessed a certain 
amount of property, and thus created a sort of Lesser I^obility 
to counterbalance the Senate. After this, as it seems, a man 
lost his place in the Equestrian Order by becoming a Senator ; 
and the Equites were either wealthy contractors and merchants, 
or young men of Senatorial families, who had not themselves 
reached Senatorial dignity. The antagonism of the Equites and 
the Senate forms one of the most striking points in the internal 
history of Rome ^br the next fifty years. And here we find 
one of the quarters from which the dominion of the Senate was 
threatened. 

§ 6. More immediate danger was to be apprehended from the 
state of the Rural Population, not only in the Roman territory 
itself, but throughout the allied cities of Italy. 

In the early times of Rome military service was a privilege, 
confined to persons of a certain property. Citizens with a 
fixed yearly income of smaller amount than gave a position in 
the Classes were employed on board the ships ; but those who 
had no appreciable property were used only as slingers and 
archers to skirmish in front of the regular battalions of the 
Legion. And the same practice seems to have prevailed in the 
Italian Communities, who always furnished more than half the 
Roman armies. In the great defeats of the Hannibalic War, 
therefore, the losses fell not on mercenary armies ; but on the 
substantial burgesses of the towns and the stout yeomen of tjie 
country. There can be no doubt that in this dreadful war the 
rural inhabitants of the Roman Territory, and of Italy generally, 
must have been more than decimated. And it was probably due 
to this cause that, from the time of Flamininus, Proletarians 
began to be enrolled in the legions along with the wealthier citi- 
zens.* Italy was drained of her best blood, and many a farm 
lost the stout limbs of its proprietors. 

§ v. To this must be added that the wars, being now carried 
on beyond seas, drew off" the legionaries from their country work 
much more completely than the Italian wars. The men could no 
longer return home when the campaign was over, but were kept for 
several years in foreign lands ; and even if they returned to their 
country they had often contracted licentious tastes and formed 

* That Fla minin us originated the practice appears probable from Plu- 
tarch. Vit. Flamin. c. 18. 

23 



;506 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. Book V. 

irregular habits wliicli ill suited the frugal life of an Italian hus- 
bandman. Those, therefore, who had small estates were eager to 
turn them into money, that they might enjoy the irregular 
pleasures of the City ; those who had nothing to sell migrated 
without hindrance. Thus the Rural Population was more and 
more thinned, Avhile the towns, and Rome most of all, swarmed 
with needy and reckless men, ready for outrage. 

§ 8. The small proprietors found it extremely easy to part with 
their estates and holdings. For the great Senatorial families were 
every day growing richer by the commands and governments 
which" were multiplied after every successive war; and, being 
prohibited from commerce, they were glad to invest their gains 
in buying up land in the neighbourhood of their own estates. 
From this time forth began those Latifundi« or Great Estates 
which Pliny believed to be the real cause of the depoptilation 
and decay of Italy. 

§ 9. It might appear, indeed, that these estates, being stript 
of their labourers, would not be very valuable. But this was 
compensated by the great abundance and cheapness of Slaves, — 
a point which has been sufficiently illustrated in our account of 
the Sicilian Slave-war. Whole districts were thrown into pas- 
turage because free labourers were wanting, and their place was 
supplied by wretched captives, Avho, though unequal to the labours 
of the plough or spade, were able to watch flocks and tend herds. 
Even when tillage was still found profitable in Italy, it changed 
its character. It was then, probably, that what is called the 
metayer system, which prevails so largely there at the present 
day, first took its rise ; the system, that is, in which the tenant 
and landlord are partners in the crops,* the landlord furnishing 
land, farm-buildings, and seed, the tenant supplying the farm- 
implements and the labour. 

Here, then, was a second cause of discontent, which rendered 
the established order of things insecure, and might at any time 
cause peril to the government of the Senate. 

§ 10, Meantime, with the decline of the Rural Population, the 
Population of the City had constantly been increasing. Even in 
the time of the Samnite Wars the Censor Appius had found the 
Freedmen sufficiently numerous to form a powerful support of the 
Patricians against the Plebeians. So we shall find them in the 
next half-century generally taking part with the Nobility against 
the champions of the Rural Population, — a fact of great importance 
in estimating the relation of parties at Rome. The people of the 
city, contemptuously called the Forensic Mob, were mostly con- 

* Metayer properly means Partner. The Latin term was Partiarius. 



Chap. XLIX. INFLUENCE OF NOBILITY IN COMITIA. 5o7 

fined to four votes out of thirty-five, aud therefore in a general 
way tliey liad little weight against the country people, who had 
thirty-one votes out of thirty-five. It is, therefore, the Country 
Tribes which in Roman history are commonly known by the 
name of " the People," and it is this part of the nation which 
supported the patriotic statesmen avIio endeavoured to restore 
the old yeomanry of Italy ; while the haughtiest of the aristo- 
cracy are allied with the Tribes of the City. It was Appius, the 
proud Patrician, who endeavoured to spread the latter over all 
the Tribes ; it was by the popular Censors, Fabius and Decius, 
that they were thrown back into the Four City Tribes. When 
they had again broken these bonds, the rule of Fabius and Decius 
was renewed by a man branded by Livy with the name and charac- 
ter of demagogue, namely C. Flaminius, who fell at the Lake 
Trasimene ; and it was the father of the Gracchi who confined 
them even to a single Tribe. Cato, the most popular man of his 
day, was all in favour of the rural population, and it was their 
sufferings that first awakened the sympathies of Tib. Gracchus. 
We must not, then, import our notions of "popular men" 
into this portion of Roman history. By "popular men" we 
mean those who favour the people of the towns ; at Rome the 
term meant those who supported the people of the country. 
There was, properly speaking, no large and independent Middle 
Class, consisting of shopkeepers and small traders of all kinds, 
such as are found in all parts of Western Europe ; for these 
crafts were filled by the Freedmen and dependents of the rich. 
The conflict lay, therefore, between the Nobility and the country 
voters, though in a few years the Equestrian Order stepped in as 
a New Nobility to embroil the strife. 

§ 11. An important consequence of this relation of parties was 
that by dexterous management the Nobility were able to obtain 
great influence in the Comitia. Popular choice was already much 
limited by the fact that wealth was required for the discharge of 
public office. It was further limited by the fact that at many 
seasons of the year the country people of the more distant Tribes 
could not leave their harvesting to give their votes at Rome. In 
this case the great Landowners, and all who were not obliged per- 
sonally to labour on their estates, represented the country tribes. 
Thus we may understand why, at some seasons, the Nobility car- 
ried elections against the will of the popular party, while at other 
times this party obtained easy victories over the Nobility. 




Medalion of Terence. 



CHAPTEE L. 



MANNERS AND MORALS : LITERATURE AND ART. 

§ 1. Vain attempts to check immorality by the Censorship, and by La-vy. 
§ 2. Religion. § 3. Public opinion : Literature. § 4. Ennius. § 5. 
Comedy. § 6. Plautus and Terence. § Y. Characteristics of their Plays. 
§ 8. Caecilius and Afranius. § 9. Tragedy : Pacuvius and Attius. § 10. 
Eeasons why the Drama had little success at Rome. § 11. Satire : Luci- 
lius. § 12. Prose "Writers. § 13. Study of Law and Oratory. § 14. Art. 

§ 1. Enough has been said in more than one chapter of the fore- 
going Book to prove the rapid decline in morality which followed 
the Punic Wars. The rankness of vice was felt by all Eomans 
of better feeling and truer patriotism. In consequence of the 
growing corruption of the age, an attempt was made to check 
the evil in a manner characteristic of the Roman mind, namely, 
by the moral superintendence of the Censors. Cato, the very 
type of a Roman, wielded this enormous power without com- 
promise ; and if penal Edicts could have arrested social changes 
or enforced moral obligations, the Censorial power in the hands 
of such a man as Cato must have done it. But though his 
spirit descended, in some measure, upon succeeding Censors, 
the undertaking proved vain. 

Sumptuary Laws, Laws against Bribery, and the like, were 
also tried by those who still clung to the hope of reviving the 
old Roman simplicity. The history of all nations, or rather the 
history of human nature, would teach us the vanity of such en- 
deavours. They were not more successful at Rome than they 
have since been "in other lands. 



Uhap. L. literature. 509 

§ 2. It miist not, however, be imagined that there were no 
exceptions to the rule of corrupt and Hcentious living, which 
began to prevail at Rome in this period. In the foregoing chap- 
ters many such have been specified, and if the records of the 
time were more complete, names now forgotten might be 
added to the list. But in the most upright Romans, such as 
Cato, there is something harsh and repulsive ; and now, more 
remarkably than ever, was their acknowledgment of social duties 
confined to the circle of their own countrymen. Nothing can 
be more detestable than the public morality of Rome through- 
out her career of conquest. No arts were too base to be used 
by her statesmen and generals. In the fulfilment of positive 
contracts, indeed, their good faith was much greater than the 
Greeks were accustomed to ; and Polybius, in a passage already 
cited, gives them high praise in this particular. But the re- 
ligious feelings which he attributes to them were fast decaying. 
Those who lived in open profligacy could know nothing of 
religion but its formalities, which it was necessary for every 
Roman to observe, because they were inextricably entangled 
with political business and military enterprises. Men of edu- 
cation sought a substitute in Greek Philosophy ; and here it 
may be noticed that the best Romans, such as JEmilius Paullus 
and the younger Scipio, professed the stern and practical doc- 
trines of the Stoic school. 

§ 3. Nor was the progress of corruption checked by the great 
Censor of modern times. Public Opinion. This force can never 
fully operate in large communities except through the Press. 
Whatever be the abuses of the Press, and they are great, its uses 
are greater far. At Athens the place of this potent instrument 
was in some measure supplied by the free and vigorous satire 
of the Comic Poets. But at Rome even this was wanting. The 
rude Roman took little pleasure in exquisite poetry and keen 
wit, such as that with which Aristophanes or Eupolis enchained 
the ear of an Athenian audience; nay, the wild buflfoonery 
with which even Attic poets were obliged to amuse the multi- 
tude, failed to please those whose youth had been spent in the 
camp and on the battle-field. Yet there was a Literature at 
Rome, and we will here resume the account of it from the point 
at which we before broke off. 

§ 4. It was said that the native poetry of Rome suddenly gave 
way to an invasion from Greece; and that" Naevius, though he 
made a brave stand against the prevailing taste, yet lived to see 
the triumph of Ennius, an avowed Hellenist. The vigour and 
force with which the new poet used the heroic metre of Homer 
may be seen from a few specimens, which Virgil borrowed and 



510 COUQUEST OF THE WORLD. Book V. 

incorporated with slight alteration in his great Epic* Enniiis, 
like Livius and Nsevius, wrote Tragedies and Comedies, which 
he translated from the Greek. But the work on which his 
fame rested was his great Epic poem entitled the Annals of Rome, 
in eighteen books. The first six of these contained a rapid nar- 
rative of the early History : the seventh began with the Second 
Punic War, so that to this great theme the bulk of the Poem 
was devoted. He boasts that he was the first who abandoned 
the rude metre used "by Fauns and Bards," and studied the 
elegancies of style ; and he is acknowledged by Lucretius as 
the poet 

Who first from lovely Helicon brought down 
The leaves of an imperishable crown, 
For all Italia's sons to hold in high renown. 

Nor was his boast empty. It is manifest that Ennius, by his 
Poem on the Punic Wars, formed and settled the Latin language, 
much as Shakspere and the Translators of the Bible formed and 
settled English. No doubt Virgil culled the fairest flowers ; but 
even the fastidious taste of Horace could recognise true poetic 
spirit in some lines of Ennius, though, at a later period of his 
lit 3, he sneered at the old bard's pretensions.f The devotion of 
Cicero to Ennius is absolute. So long did his popularity last, 
that Seneca, writing in the time of Nero, calls the Roman People 
Populus Ennianus, and portions of his poems were commonly 
recited in the theatres down to the time of the Emperor 
Aurelius. 

§ 5. Meantime, besides Tragedy, of which we have spoken, 
there had arisen at Rome a Comic Drama, of high excellence. 
Comic entertainments of a rude kind had prevailed from early 
times. But the Fescennine Dialogues and the Atellane Mimes, 
of which we spoke in a former page, had no relation to what 
was called Comedy at Rome. ' This, like Tragedy, Avas merely 

* As, " Postquam Diseordia tetra 

Belli ferratos postes portasque refregit." — Ennius. 
" Impulit ipsa manu portas, et cardine verso 
Belli ferratos rupit Saturnia postes." — Virgil. 

" Qui ccelum versat stellis fulgentibus aptum." — Ennius. 
" Axem humero torquet stellis ardentibus aptum.'''' — ^YirgiL 

Quae neque Dardaniis campis potuere perire, 
" l^ec quum capta capi, nee quum combusta cremari." — ^Ennius. 

" Num Sige'is occumbere campis, 

Num capti potuere capi ? num incensa cremavit 
Troja viros?^^ — Virgil, 
f He recognises the poetic spirit in 1 Serm. iv. 60 sq.; he adopts a depre- 
ciatory tone in 2 Epist. i. 50 sq. 



Chap. L, LITERATURE. 511 

transplanted from Greece. Probably all the old poets from 
Livius AndronicuR to Ennius, who translated Greek Tragedies 
for the Roman stage, also translated Greek Comedies. Nasvius, 
as we have seen, tried a more independent com'se, and was per- 
secuted for his pains. The Comedies, in which he attacked the 
Metelli and others, must have rather resembled the Old Comedy 
of Athens, in which it was usual to indulge in the most open 
personalities ; while the Roman Comic Dramas known to us are 
borrowed from the New Comedy of Meander and Diphilus, in 
which the characters represent not particular persons, but whole 
classes of society. It is evident, at once, that such dramas would 
have little effect, as will appear when we have given some ac- 
count of the chief Comic Poets and their works. 

§ 6. T. Maccius Plautus was a native Italian, having been 
born at Sarsina, a petty town of Umbria, near the close of the 
First Punic War. His father was a Freedman.: he led a careless, 
jovial life, frequenting taverns, and entering into the humours of 
the people, rather than seekiug the patronage of the great. His 
plays were not without reward ; but he was sometimes obliged 
to labour like a slave for his daily bread. He died in 184 b.c. at 
a good old age. Twenty of his comedies still remain. 

P. Terentius Afer appears to have been born at Carthage 
about the year 195 B.C., and was therefore some half-century 
younger than Plautus. In his youth he was the slave of a 
wealthy Roman, named P. Terentius Lucanus, whose first names 
he adopted (according to custom) on obtaining his freedom. 
His first play was the Andria, which he finished in his twenty- 
seventh year, and it won him the acquaintance and patronage of 
Scipio ^milianus and Lselius, who were then young men, study- 
ing Greek under Polybius. His Adelphi was acted (by a strange 
abuse) at the funeral games of ^milius Paullus, and the charge 
that he was assisted in translating from Diphilus by his young 
patrons is at least not discountenanced by the poet.'* He 
died at the early age of thirty-four; and probably the six 
comedies which we still possess entire were all that he ever 
wrote. 

§ 7. The characteristic excellences of the two poets correspond 
with the manners of their lives. As far as the plots go, there is 
little to praise. The same generic characters appear and reap- 
pear in every play. Both Plautus and Terence content them- 

* For he says in the Prologue : — 

" Nam quod isti dieunt malevoli, homines nobiles 
Eum adjutare adsidueque %ma scribere. 
Quod illi maledictum vehemens esse existimant, 
Earn laudem hie maximam ducit," &c. 



512 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. Book V. 

selves with giving us, at second hand, weak fathers who leave 
their sons to the care of roguish slaves; and represent the 
sons as determined to woo and win penniless girls, in which aim 
they were aided by the clever knavery of the slaves. In the 
end, a reconciliation is brought about by the discovery that the 
dreaded mistress is the lost daughter of a brother or some par- 
ticular friend of the father; so that the young man gains his 
point, and the slave, instead of being punished for his trickery, 
is rewarded for his adroitness. Sometimes a Captain Bobadil, 
such as in Greece were common after the Macedonian Wars, 
stupid, braggart, and rich with plunder, is made a butt for all 
kinds of jokes, verbal and practical, and he is attended by a 
Parasite, who flatters him extravagantly, and is rewarded (as his 
name shows) by a place at the Captain's table. 

But the tone and manner in which these unpromising charac- 
ters were employed by the two writers are extremely different. 
Plautus, coarser and more free-spoken, admits much of broad 
Eoman humour, and introduces many Roman customs into his 
scenes. Terence, veiling even immoral thoughts in a style polished 
almost to coldness, keeps closer to his Attic original, and seldom 
ventures to mar its unity by foreign admixture. The Parasite 
in Plautus tickles his master's vanity by a coarseness of flattery 
that would have put Falstaff to the blush : the Parasite of 
Terence falls into his lord's vein with such easy assentation, that 
a less stupid man might be deceived.* The Son of Plautus, 
thwarted in his desires, prays for his father's death, that he may 
bestow the inheritance on his mistress :f the Son of Terence, 
grieved for the deceit he has practised upon his father, breaks into 
passionate self-reproach.J There is a racy freshness in the style 
of Plautus which well deserves the praise bestowed by Cicero, and 
was so admired by some Roman critics, as to draw from them the 
extravagant praise, that, " if the Muses spoke Latin, they would 

* In the Miles Gloriosus of Plautus, the Parasite flatters Pyrgopolinicea 
thus : — 

" You broke," he says, 

" In India with your fist an elephant's arm." 
And again : 

" I do remember — ^let me see — an hundred 
Cryphiolathronians, and thirty Sardians, 
And threescore Macedonians — that's the nimaber 
Of men you slaughtered in a single day. 
Pyrgop. What's the sum total of the men ?" 
Parasite. Seven thousand!''' 

The Parasite in the Eunuehus of Terence is much more delicate in his flattery. 

f Mostellaria, Act i. Sc. 3, 1. 16. 

X As Pamphilus in the Andria, Act v. Sc. 3. 



Chap. L. LITERATURE, 5 13 

use the tongue of Plautus :" and if Horace speaks slightingly of 
him, as of Ennius, it must be said that he was provoked by the 
fashion which in his day prevailed of over-rating the old Roman 
writers. The style of Terence is a very model of precision, 
elegance, and purity, as is testified by Cicero and by Csesar, 
though the latter laments a certain deficiency of comic vigour, 
which made him only " half a Menander."* 

§ 8. Besides these two famous writers, may be mentioned Q. 
Csecilius, a Comic poet, who died about two years before the 
Andria of Terence Avas acted, and who was coupled with Terence 
in a manner that implies his excellence.f He was a Milanese 
by birth, and, like Terence, came to Rome as a slave. 

Another Comic poet of somewhat later date deserves particular 
notice. This was L. Afranius, who ventured, like Nsevius, to 
write Comedies on Roman subjects, though he still seems to have 
drawn upon Menander for his dialogue.^ 

§ 9. To those short notices of the Comic Poets, we may add 
a still shorter account of the two Tragic writers who flourished 
at the same time. 

Pacuvius, sister's son of Ennius, was born in the year before 
Hannibal crossed the Alps, and lived to the age of eighty, so 
that he died about the same time with Terence. Most of his 
Tragedies, like those of his predecessors, were borrowed from the 
Greek. But he wrote one play named Paullus, of which the hero 
was the conqueror of Macedon. 

Attius, or Accius, began to bring forward plays in the year of 
the death of Pacuvius (l'39 B.C.). He also, besides his Greek trans- 
lations, produced two plays with Roman arguments. The Brutus 
and The Decius. The subjects were the Delivery of Rome from 
the Tarquins, and the Self-sacrifice of that Decius who fell at the 
battle of Sentinum. They were produced, as the name of the first 
testifies, under the patronage of Dec. Brutus Callaicus, who carried 
the Roman arms to the verge of the Atlantic, and who entered 

* " Quicquid come loquens atque omnia dulcia dicens." — Cicero, Fragm. 

" Tu quoque, tu in summis, dimidiate Menander, 
Poneris, et merito, puri sermonis amator. 
Lenibus atque utinam scriptis adjuncta foret vis 
Comica, ut sequato virtus poUeret honore 
Cum Grsecis, neque in hac despectus parte jaceris." — Csesar ap. Sueton. 

f " Vincere Caecilius gravitate, Terentius arte." — Horat. 2. Epist. 1. 59. 
This was the popular opinion, not Horace's. 

\ " Dicitur Afrani toga convenisse Menandei"," says Horace (2 Epist. i. 
5*7). Comedies in which the Dramatis Personse were Roman, and wore Roman 
dresses, were called FabulcB Togatce, while those in which the Greek names 
and dresses were retained, which was usually the ease, were called Palliatce. 

22* 



514 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. Book V. 

into a generous rivalry with Scipio in patronage of Poetry.* The 
few remains of Attius are terse and vigorous ; and the loss of his 
historical plays cannot but be matter of regret.f 

§ 10. Enough has been said to show that this literature can 
have produced very little effect upon the manners and morals of 
Rome. It was wholly of foreign growth. What interest could 
the people at large take in the Grecian dramas ? " What was 
Hecuba to them, or they to Hecuba?" The Roman Drama 
was an exotic, which subsisted by the patronage of the great 
men, who spoke Greek as readily as Latin. The Roman Dra- 
matic Poets were mostly Slaves or Freedmen, whose object was 
to please the great family to which they were attached. When 
any one, as Nsevius, attempted to tread a freer course, his mouth 
was stopped by persecution. 

The common life and interests of a Roman citizen every year 
made him less disposed for intellectual amusements. From 
childhood he was used to the splendid games, which every suc- 
ceeding vEdile tried to make more splendid. Triumph after 
triumph raised a love of gorgeous exhibitions, which was ill- 
satisfied by the poetry and action of the Stage. Above all, the 
bloody sports of the gladiatorial combats, which were first 
exhibited at the funeral games of a Brutus (264 B.C.), created 
a craving for strong and real excitements, which no dramatic 
illusions could supply. This tendency in the vulgar was seconded 
by the old Roman spirit, which regarded the Drama as a foreign 
innovation, calculated to enervate and corrupt. Dramatic repre- 
sentations at Rome were but occasional, and the Theatres were 
but temporary booths, removed when the festival-time was 
past. In the year 155 b.c. the Censor Cassius wished to per- 
petuate the memory of his ofiice by building a stone Theatre ; 
but the Consul P. Scipio Nasica, a rigid stickler for old Roman 

* These Historical Plays were no doubt the dramas known under the 
name of the Fahulce Prcetextatce, because the chief persons wore the Prcetextce 
or State-robe of Senators. 

f Popular opinion represented Pacuvius as the Euripides, Attius as the 
Sophocles of Roman Tragedy : — 

" Aufert 

Pacuvius docti famam Senis, Attius alti." — Horat. 2 Epist, i. 56. 
Horace commends the fashion of plays on subjects of Roman history : — 

" Nee minimum meruere decus, vestigia Graeca 
Ausi deserere, et celebrare domestica facta." — Ars Poet. 286. 
One of the vigorous sayings of Attius is the famous Tyrant's maxim, " Oderint 
dum metuant." The pithy line — " Virtute sis par, dispar fortunse patris" — 
has been amplified by Virgil into — 

" Disce, puer, virtutem ex me verumque laborem, 
Fortimam ex aliis." 



Chap. L. LITERATURE. 515 

customs, interfered to prevent the work; nor was any stone 
Theatre erected at Rome till the second Consulship of Pompey 
the Great, exactly one century later. But the Theatres, such as 
they were, were not so much used for dramatic purposes in the 
proper sense of the word, as for the representation of gorgeous 
spectacles and magnificent processions. In a tragedy, whose 
subject was the Fall of Troy, it was not the fate of Priam or 
the sorrows of Andromache that touched the hearts of the audi- 
ence, but a host of soldiers in foreign arms and strange apparel 
that amused their eyes. In Horace's time this corruption of 
taste had reached its height. The taste of the people, he says, 
is all for bear-baiting and boxing-matches. Nor could the 
educated classes boast of a better taste. The love of military 
shows and spectacles had overpowered all merely intellectual 
pleasures.* 

§ 11. One species of Poetry remains to be mentioned, Avhich 
arose in the same period, and for which alone the Eomans can 
claim the merit of original invention, — that, namely, which Horace 
and Juvenal have made so well known under the name of Satire. 
It originated, doubtless, with those rustic effusions called the 
Fescennine Dialogues, which had served from early times to 
attack the foibles and fashions of the day. This rude instru- 
ment was taken up by a great poet, who used it so as not only 
to assail and censure, but also to convey positive instruction.! 
This Poet was named C. Lucilius. He was born at Suessa 
Aurunca in 148 e.g., served in the Equites under Scipio in the 
Numantine war, and continued on intimate terms with the 
younger Ltelius, after the death of his more illustrious friend. 
He died about the year 103 b.c. at Naples, to which place he had 
retired from the civil broils which disturbed the City. The 
muse of Lucilius was very fluent. Of his numerous Satires only 
fragments now remain ; but many of these show that he pos- 
sessed a vigour of thought and pungency of style not unworthy 
of the master of Horace and Juvenal. In the Augustan age, 
indeed, the admiration for Lucilius was so great, that Horace 
thought it necessary to moderate the fervour of his admirers, 
and gave so much offence that he was obliged to enter into an 

* See Hor. 2 Epist. i. 185 sqq. 

f Its originality is expressly asserted by Horace, who calls Lucilius 
"Greeds infacti carminis auctor" (1 /Se/m. s. 68). Juvenal's definition of 
Satire is well known : 

" Quicquid agunt homines, — votum, timor, ira, eupido, 
Gaudia, diseursus, — nostri est farrago libelli." — Sat. i. 86. 

The word Satira or Saiura is said to mean a medley, — a sense well suited to 
this definition. 



516 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. Book V. 

explanation of the Satire whicli lie liad written upon the first 
writer of Satires.* 

§ 12. Little need here be added with respect to Prose Litera- 
ture. It became a fashionable employment for Romans of high 
family to compose naiTatives of portions of Roman history, after 
the example set by Fabius Pictor and Cincius Alimentus. The 
instruction of the people could but little be consulted, when 
books were all written by hand, and were, therefore, both scarce 
and costly. But any such purpose was disavowed by the fact, 
that most of these chroniclers wrote in Greek, just as the English, 
French, and German authors of the Middle ages wrote ia Latin. 

§ 13. The study of law had before this begun to be common 
at Rome, and men little fitted for military life courted popular 
favour by giving legal advice to numerous clients. But this 
subject belongs properly to the succeeding age. Men of the 
Forum were still expected to take the command of armies, even 
when their inefficiency was certain. Such was the case with the 
Consuls who began the Third Punic War. 

But there was a kindred pursuit, which already brought fame 
and profit to those who professed it, namely, the art of Public 
Speaking. The practice of indicting great off'enders before the 
people, or prosecuting them in the Law-courts, encouraged Fo- 
rensic Oratory. Deliberative or Parliamentary speaking found 
an open field, not only in the Senate, but in the great Assemblies 
of the People. And the faculties of the Romans seem to have 
readily adapted themselves to the requirement. In his work on 
the Orators of Rome,f Cicero enumerates some even of this 
early date, whose speeches were still thought worth reading. 
Such was Appius Claudius the Censor, whose dying eloquence 
led the Senate to reject the persuasive offers of Cineas; such 
was Sergius Galba, whose pathetic language procured his own 
acquittal from the charge of oppression in Spain ; such was old 
Cato, for many years the favourite orator of the Forum. The 
study of the art of Speaking was, indeed, the chief part of a 
young Roman's education. When he had gone through some 
grammatical teaching, and read some of the old poets, he passed 
into the school of a Rhetorical master, and learned to repeat 
famous speeches, such as those of Galba, and to frame speeches 
of his own on imaginary subjects. But the old Romans objected 
to these novel practices. Greek Rhetoricians were their chief 
abomination. In the year 161 b.c, a Decree of the Senate was 
launched even against Latin Philosophers and Rhetoricians ; and 

* The first attack was in 1 Serm. iv. 8 sq. The explanation is 1 Serm. x. 
1 sq. " Nempe incomposito, <&e." 

f Entitled Brutus, sive de Claris Oratoribus Libellus. 



Chap. L. ORATORY— ART. 517 

the Prsetor Pomponius was instructed to see that no such persons 
remained at Rome. Of the prompt measures taken by Cato 
to remove Carneades six years later we have spoken. But the 
fashion was gradually tolerated and finally prevailed. 

§ 14. Roman Art became more and more a mere name, except so 
far as engineering and building came into that province. We have 
nothing to add here to the remarks made in a former chapter. 
The story of Mummius and the Corinthian statues is, in a some- 
what grotesque form, an epitome of genuine Roman taste and 
feeling in respect to the Fine Arts. 




Bust ef Enniua. 




The Forum from the Capitol. 

BOOK VI. 
FIKST PEKIOD OF CIYIL WAES. 



CHAPTER LI. 

TIBERIUS GRACCHUS. (133 B.C.) 

§ 1. Necessity of Reform. § 2. Youth and education of Tib. Gracclius. § 3. 
Elected Tribune. § 4. The Country Citizens chiefly interested iu an 
Agrarian Law. § 5. Provisions of the Law proposed by Gracchus. §6. 
Opposition to the Law : question as to its justice. § 1. Feeling in its 
favour : Octavius, a Tribune, undertakes to bar it. § 8. Proceedings at 
the First Assembly. § 9. Efforts of both parties. § 10. Proceedings at 



Chap. LI. TIBERIUS GRACCHUS. 519 

the Second Assembly. § 11. The Third Assembly : Oetavius deposed, 
the Law passed, Three Commissioners elected. § 12. Bequest of Attains: 
Gracchus proposes to employ it in stocking the new allotments. § 13. 
Accusations against Gracchus in the Senate : decrease of popularity. 
§ 14. He defends his own conduct. § 15. Gifers himself for re-election: 
brings forward popular measures. § 16. The Comitia adjourned : prepa- 
rations for a struggle. § 17. Tumult : death of Gracchus. § 18. Esti- 
mate of his charactei'. 
§ 1. It appears that before the time of Scipio's election to con- 
duct the Numantian War, it had become a prevalent opinion that 
some measures Avere necessary to arrest the social evils of which 
we have spoken above. The frightful excesses of the Servile 
War called attention still more strongly to the subject ; and in 
the year that Scipio achieved the conquest of Numantia a leader 
appeared who was endowed with courage, firmness, self-confi- 
dence, ability, eloquence, and every requisite for political success, 
except a larger experience and a larger share of patience and selt- 
control. 

§ 2. Ti. Sempronius Gracchus was son of one of the few Romans 
in whom public spirit prevailed over the spirit of party. Though 
personally hostile to the great Scipio, we saw him interfere be- 
tween him and his foes. After the death of Africanus, the chiefs 
of the party off"ered him the hand of Cornelia, the only surviving 
daughter of the hero ; and from this marriage twelve sons and 
one daughter were born in rapid succession. The eldest, Ti- 
berius, saw the light about 166 b.c, but the father died before 
his eldest son reached man's estate, and Cornelia was left a 
widow with her children. The daughter lived ; but of all the 
twelve sons only two grew up, — Tiberius, and Caius who was 
nine years younger. To the education of these precious relics 
Cornelia devoted all the energies of her masculine mind. She 
even refused an offer to share the throne of the King of Egypt. 
Her dearest task was to watch the opening capacities of her boys. 
Such was her hope of their greatness that she used to say she 
would be known not as the Daughter of Scipio, but as the 
Mother of the Gracchi. 

According to the fashion of the day, Greek teachers were called 
in to educate the boys. Blossius of Cumse, and Diophanes a 
Mitylensean exile, are mentioned as the instructors, and in later 
life as the friends, of Tiberius. Scarcely had Tiberius assumed 
the garb of manhood when he was elected into the College of 
Augurs. At the banquet given to celebrate his installation, 
App. Claudius, the Chief of the Senate, offered him his daughter's 
hand in marriage. When the proud Senator returned home, he 
told his wife that he had that day betrothed their daughter. 



520 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

" All !" she cried, " she is too young : it had been well to wait a 
while, — unless indeed young Gracchus is the man." Soon after 
his marriage he accompanied Scipio to Carthage, where he was 
the first to scale the walls. 

The personal importance of Gracchus was strengthened by the 
marriage of Scipio with his only sister. But this marriage 
proved unhappy. Sempronia had no charms of person, and her 
temper was not good; -Scipio's austere manners were little 
pleasing to a bride ; nor were children born to form a bond of 
union between them. 

§ 3. It was when Gracchus was about thirty years old (137 b.c.) 
that he served as Quaestor in Spain. Before this, when he tra- 
velled through Etruria to join the army, he had noted her broad 
lands tilled not by free yeomen as of old, but by slaves. Soon 
after this the Slave War broke out. He spoke his sentiments 
freely, and public opinion designated him as the man who was 
to undertake the thankless office of Reformer. In all places of 
public resort the walls were covered with inscriptions calling on 
Gracchus to vindicate the rights of all Roman citizens to a share 
in the State lands. He presented himself as a candidate for the 
Tribunate, and was elected. 

§ 4. In the beginning of 133 b.c. he entered upon office. He 
had already prepared men for his projected legislation by elo- 
quent speeches, in which he compared the present state of Italy 
with her olden time, deplored the decay of her yeomen and 
farmers, and the lack of free men to serve in the legions. All 
his arguments pointed towards some measures for restoring the 
class of small landed proprietors who were dwindling fast away. 

§ 5. In a short time his plan was matured and his Bill brought 
forward. He proposed to revise the Licinian Law of 364 b.c, by 
which it was enacted that no head of a family should hold more 
than 500 jugera (nearly 320 acres) of the Public Land ; but to 
render the rule less stringent, he added that every son of the 
family might, on becoming his own master, hold half that quantity 
in addition. Whoever was in possession of more was to give up 
the excess at once to the State ; but to obviate complaints of 
injustice, he proposed that those who gave up possession should 
be entitled to a fair compensation for any improvements they 
had made during the term of their possession. All Public Lands 
were to be vested in three Commissioners {^Triumviri), who were 
to be elected by the Tribes. Their business was to distribute 
the Public Lands to all citizens in needy circumstances : and 
to prevent lands so distributed being again absorbed into the 
estates of the rich Landowners, the sale of the new allotments 
was altogether prohibited. 



Chap. LL TIBERIUS GRACCHUS. 521 

§ 6. The greater part of these Public Lands had fallen into the 
hands of the rich Landowners. They had held them on pay- 
ment of a small yearly rent, for generations : and many of these 
persons had forgotten perhaps 'that their possession could be 
disturbed. After the first surprise was over, the voices of these 
Landholders began to be heard ; but as yet the majority of the 
Senate showed no disfavour to the law of Gracchus.* The per- 
sons interested alleged that the measure, though it pretended 
only to interfere with State lands, did in fact interfere with 
the rights of private property ; for these lands were held on 
public lease and had been made matters of purchase and sale, 
moneys were secured on them for the benefit of widows and 
orphans, tombs had been erected on them : if this law passed, 
no man's land could be called his own. 

If Gracchus had proposed a forcible and immediate resump- 
tion of all State lands, without compensation for moneys spent 
on them, these arguments would have had more weight. Eights 
arise by prescription ; and if the State had for a long course of 
time tacitly recognised a right of private property in these lands, 
it would have been a manifest injustice thus abruptly to resume 
possession. But the Licinian Law was evidence that the State 
claimed a right to interfere with the tenure of the Public Lands. 
That the Romans felt no doubt about the right is shown by the 
fact that in framing his law Tiberius was assisted by his father- 
in-law App. Claudius, the Chief of the Senate, and by P. Mucius 
Scsevola, Consul of the year, the best lawyer at Rome, and a man 
of unquestionable integrity. The right was clear : the only 
question was as to the expediency of the measure. 

§ 7. It is certain that the Law would be carried in all the 
country Tribes, because it was precisely in these Tribes that the 
strength of Gracchus lay, and all his arguments show that he 
knew it. It was to the country people, who had lost or were 
afraid of losing their little tenements, that he spoke. " The wild 
animals of Italy," said he, " have their dens and lairs : the men 
who have fought for Italy have air and light, — nothing more. 
They are styled masters of the world, though they have not a 
clod of earth they can call their own." One course only remained 
open to the Landholders for thwarting the bold Tribune, and this 
was to gain over one of his brother Tribunes to interpose the 
fatal veto. They fixed on M. Octavius. For a time he was 
inexorable, but at length he gave way to their arguments ; 
and on the night before the day on which the Law was to be 

* Appius calls his opponents not Senators {(iovlevTal or ytpovTeg), but ol 
KTrifiaTLKoi or ol ix'kovaLoi, Lat. Possessores, — wealthy Landholders. 



522 CIVIL WARS : FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

proposed, the holders of Public Lands went to rest with lightened 
hearts. 

§ 8. The morning came. The Formn was crowded with people 
expecting the completion of the great measure which was to re- 
store some share in the broad lands of Italy to the sons of those 
who had won them. Strange faces were seen everywhere : vine- 
dressers from Campania and the Auruncan hills, peasants from 
the Sabine and ^quian valleys, farmers of valley and plain from 
the Clanis to the Vulturnus. 

Gracchus rose. His speech was received with loud applause 
by the eager multitude. When he had ended, he turned to the 
clerk, and bade him read over the Avords of the Law before it 
was put to the vote. Then Octavius stood up and forbade the 
man to read. Gracchus was taken by surprise. After much 
debate he broke up the Assembly, declaring that he would again 
bring on his defeated Bill upon the next regular day of meeting. 

§ 9. This intervening time was spent in preparing for the con- 
test. Gracchus retaliated upon the veto of Octavius by laying 
an interdict on all public functionaries, shut up the courts of 
justice and the offices of police, and put a seal upon the doors 
of the Treasury. Further, he struck the compensation clauses 
out of his Bill, and now simply proposed that the State should 
resume possession of all lands held by individuals in contraven- 
tion of the Licinian Law. 

§ 10. On the day of the second Assembly Gracchus appeared in 
the Forum escorted by a body-guard. Again he ordered the clerk 
to read the Bill ; again Octavius stood forth, and barred all pro- 
ceedings. A violent scene followed, and a riot seemed inevitable, 
when two Senators, friends of Gracchus — one named Fulvius 
Flaccus — earnestly besought him to refer the whole matter to 
the Senate. Gracchus consented. But his late impatient con- 
duct had weakened whatever influence his name possessed in 
the great Council, and his appearance was the signal for a burst 
of reproaches. He hastily left the House, and returning to the 
Forum gave out that on the next day of Assembly he would for 
the third time propose his measure ; and that, if Octavius 
persisted in opposition, he would move the People to depose 
their unfaithful Tribune. 

§11. As the day approached, Gracchus made every effort to 
avoid this desperate necessity ; but Octavius repelled every ad- 
vance, and on the morning of the third Assembly, Gracchus rose 
at once and moved that Octavius should be deprived of the trust 
which he had betrayed. 

The country Tribe, which obtained by lot the prerogative 
of voting first, was called, and its suffrage was unanimous for the 



Chap. LI. TIBERIUS GRACCHUS. 523 

deposition of Octavius ; sixteen Tribes followed in the same sense ; 
tlie eigliteentli Avonld give a majority of tlie thirty-five, and its 
vote would determine the question. As this Tribe came up to 
vote, Gracchus stopped the proceedings, and besought Octavius 
not to force on the irrevocable step. The Tribune wavered : but 
he caught the eye of one of his rich friends, and turned coldly 
from Tiberius. Then the eighteenth Tribe was called, and by 
its vote Octavius was in a moment stripped of his sacred ofiice. 

The Bill itself was then passed by acclamation, and three 
Commissioners destined to execute its provisions were elected, — 
Tiberius himself, his father-in-law App. Claudius, his brother 
Caius, then a youth of twenty, serving under Scipio in Spain. 
The Law was not deemed safe unless it was intrusted for execu- 
tion to Tiberius and his kinsmen. 

§ 12. In a few weeks Gracchus had risen to the summit of 
power. He seldom stirred from home without being followed 
by a crowd. The Numantian War and the Servile War still lin- 
gered, and the government of the Senate was not in a condition 
to defy attack. That body now was thoroughly alarmed, and 
Gracchus soon proceeded to measures which touched them in 
their tenderest point. Attains Philometor, King of Pergamus, 
the last of the line of Eumenes, was just dead, and had bequeathed 
his kingdom with nil his lands and treasure to the Roman People. 
In ordinary times the Senate, as the administrator of all foreign 
and financial aff"airs, would at once have assumed the disposition 
of this bequest ; but Gracchus promptly gave notice that he would 
propose a Bill to enact that the moneys of Attalus should be 
distributed to those who were to receive allotments of Public 
Land, in order to assist them in purchasing stock, in erecting 
farm-buildings, and the like ; and he added that he would bring 
the subject of its future government before the People without 
allowing the Senate to interfere. He thus openly announced a 
revolution. 

§ 13. When Gracchus next appeared in the Senate-house, he 
was accused of receiving a purple robe and diadem from the 
envoy of the late King of Pergamus. T. Annius, an old Senator, 
who had been Consul twenty years before, openly taxed the 
Tribune with violating the Constitution. Gracchus, stung to 
the quick by this last assault, indicted the old Consular for 
treason against the majesty of the People. Annius appeared ; 
but before Gracchus could speak, he said : " I suppose, if one of 
your brother Tribunes offers to protect me, you will fly into a 
passion and depose him also." Gracchus saw the effect pro- 
duced upon his hearers, and broke up the Assembly. 

Moreover, many of his well-wishers had been alarmed by a 



524 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VL 

Law, by which he had made the Triumviri absolute judges, 
without appeal, on disputed questions with regard to property 
in land. Many allotments of Public Land had been granted, 
of which the titles had been lost ; and every person holding 
under such condition saw his property placed at the mercy of 
irresponsible judges. 

§ 14. Gracchus felt that his popularity was shaken, and at the 
next Assembly he thought it necessary to make a set speech to 
vindicate his conduct in deposing Octavius. The sum of his 
arguments amounts to a plea of necessity. It is true that the 
Constitution of Rome provided no remedy against the abuse of 
power by an officer, except the shortness of time during which 
he held office and his liability to indictment at the close of that 
time. The Tribunician authority, originally demanded to protect 
the People, might have turned against the People. But was not 
it open to Gracchus to propose a Law by which the veto of a 
single Tribune might be limited in its effect? Or might he not 
have waited patiently for the election of new set of Tribunes, 
and taken care that all were tried friends of his Law ? Instead 
of this he preferred a coup-d'etat, and thus set an example which 
was sure to be turned against himself. 

§ 15. The violent language of Nasica and his party made it 
plain that in the next year, when his person was no longer pro- 
tected by the sanctity of the Tribunician office, he would b^ 
vigorously assailed. He therefore determined to offer himself 
for reelection at the approaching Comitia of the Tribes. But 
his election was far from- secure. Harvest-work occupied the 
country voters ; many had grown cold ; the mass of those who 
resided in the city were clients and dependents of the Nobility. 
It was to regain and extend his popularity that he now brought 
forward three measures calculated to please all classes except 
the Senatorial families. First, he proposed to diminish the 
necessary period of Military Service. Secondly, he announced a 
reform of the superior Law-courts, by which the juries were to 
be taken not from the Senators only, but from all persons pos- 
sessing a certain amount of property, — a measure which was sure 
to please the wealthy contractors and tax-collectors. Thirdly, 
he provided an Appeal in all cases from the law-courts to the 
Assembly of the People. 

These measures, which in altered forms were afterwards carried 
by his brother Gains, were only brought forward by Tiberius. 
But this was enough. His popularity returned in full tide. 

§ 16. "When the day of the election came, the Prerogative 
Tribe gave its vote for Gracchus and his friends; so also the 
next. But it was objected that the same man could not be 



Chap. LI. TIBERIUS GRACCHUS. 525 

chosen in two successive years ; and after a hot debate the 
Assembly was adjourned till next day. 

It wanted yet some hours of nightfall. Gracchus came forth 
into the Forum, clad in black, and leading his young son by the 
hand. In anticipation of his untimely end, he committed his 
precious charge to his fellow citizens. All hearts were touched. 
The people surrounded him with eager gesticulations, and 
escorted him home, bidding him be of good cheer for the mor- 
row. Many of his warmest adherents kept guard at his doors 
all night. 

§ 17. The adjourned Assembly met next morning upon the 
Capitol, and the area in front of the Temple of Jupiter was filled 
chiefly by the adherents of Gracchus, among whom the Tribune 
was himself conspicuous, in company with his Greek friend and 
preceptor Blossius of Cumae. The Senate also assembled hard 
by in the Temple of Faith. jN'asica rose and urged the presiding 
Consul to «top the reelection. But Scasvola declined.* 

On this, Fulvius Flaccus left the Senate, informed Gracchus of 
the speech of Nasica, and told him that his death was resolved 
upon. Then the friends of Gracchus girded up their gowns and 
armed themselves with staves, for the purpose of repelling force 
by force. In the midst of the uproar Gracchus raised his hand 
to his head. His enemies cried that he was asking for a crown. 
Exaggerated reports were carried into the Senate-house, and 
Nasica exclaimed, " The Consul is betraying the Republic : 
those who would save their country, follow me !" So saying, 
he drew the skirt of his gown over his head, after the manner 
used by the Pontifex Maximus in solemn acts of worship. A 
number of Senators followed, and the people respectfully made 
way. But the Nobles and their partisans broke up the benches 
that had been set out for the Assembly, and began an assault 
upon the adherents of Gracchus, who fled in disorder. Gracchus 
abandoned all thoughts of resistance : he left his gown in the 
hands of a friend who sought to detain him, and made towards 
the Temple of Jupiter. But the priests had closed the doors ; 
and in his haste he stumbled over a bench and fell. As he was 
rising, one of his own colleagues struck him on the head with 
a stool ; another claimed the honour of repeating the blow ; and 
before the statues of the old kings at the portico of the Temple 
the Tribune lay dead. Many of his adherents were slain with 
him : many were forced over the wall at the edge of the Tar- 

Eeian Rock, and were killed by their fall. Not fewer than three 
undred lost their lives in the fray. 

* Piso, the other Consul, was employed in extinguishing the Slave-war in 
Sicily. — Chapt. xlviii. § 11. 



526 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

Caius liad just returned from Spain, and asked leave to bury 
his brother's corpse. This was refused. The triumphant party 
ordered the bodies of Tiberius and his friends to be thrown into 
the Tiber before morning. 

Thus flowed the first blood that was shed in civil strife at 
Rome. 

8 18. Tiberius Gracchus must be allowed the name of Great, 
if greatness be measured by the efi"ects produced upon society 
by the action of a single mind, rather than by the length of time 
during which power is held, or the success that follows upon 
bold enterprises. He held office not more than seven months ;* 
and in that short time he so shook the power of the Senate, that 
it never entirely recovered from the blow. His nature was 
noble ; his views and wishes those of a true patriot. But he 
was impatient of opposition, and by his abrupt and violent con- 
duct provoked a resistance which he might have avoided. 
When the moment of action came, his temper was too gentle, 
or his will too irresolute, to take the bold course which his own 
conduct and that of the Senate had rendered necessary. 

"When Scipio, in the camp before Numantia, heard of his kins- 
man's end, he exclaimed in the words of Homer : — 

" So perish all and every one who dares such deeds as he !" 

But the sequel will show that it was not so much of the political 
measures of Gracchus that Scipio disapproved, as of the impa- 
tience which he had shown and the violence which he had used 
in carrying them. Such defects of character were of all most 
displeasing to a soldier and a Stoic. 

* For the Tribunes entered on office on the IV. Id. Decembr. — the 10th 
of December ; and the new election was held in the July following. 
f u£ uTTo'koiTo Kol dTCkoQ, oTig ToiavTu ye f)e^ot, — Od. i. 4*7. 




Tomb on the Appian Way. 



CHAPTER LII. 



RETURN AND DKATH OF SCIPIO THE YOUNGER. (133-129 B.C.) 

§ 1. Prevalence of the moderate Party in the Senate : P. Crassus elected 
Triumvir to succeed Tib. Gracchus : Nasica obliged to quit Rome. § 2. 
A Commission issued to try the accompUces of Gracchus. § 3. Scipio 
returns from Spain : his sympathies with the Italian yeomen. § 4. His 
opposition to the City populace. § 5. Scipio and Crassus competitors for 
command : Crassus elected : Censorship of Metellus and Pompeius, two 
Plebeians. § 6. Death of Crassus in Asia, and of App. Claudius : Fulvius 
Flaccus and Carbo elected Triumviri in their stead. § '7. Proceedings of 
Carbo to give effect to the Agrarian Law. § 8. Arbitrary decisions on 
tenure of Public Lands : great offence given to the Italians. § 9. They 
entreat Scipio to undertake their cause : failure of his scheme. § 10. 
Speech of Scipio in the Senate : intention to speak in the Forum next day : 
he is found dead in his bed. § 11. Suspicions of murder. § 12. Character 
of Scipio. 

§ 1. The struggle had now commenced between the Oligarchy and 
Democracy. This struggle was to last till the Dictator Sylla for a 
time restored the Senate to sovereignty, which was wrested from 
them again by a Dictator yet more potent than Sylla. But we 
should be wrong to assume that the Senate and the Oligarchy 



528 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book Vi. 

were always identical. At times tliey were so, for at times the 
violent party among the Nobles were in command of a majority 
in the Senate ; but a moderate party always existed, who stood 
between the Nobility and the Democracy. It was the violent 
party, headed by Nasica, not the body itself, which was respon- 
sible for the death of Gracchus. The Senate did not support 
them. 

The People were allowecl to proceed quietly to the election of 
a new Commissioner in the place of Gracchus, and their choice fell 
on P. Licinius Crassus, brother by blood of the Consul Scsevola, 
who had been adopted into the family of the Crassi. His 
daughter had lately been married to young Caius Gracchus, and 
he now became the acknowledged leader of the party. 

Nor did the Senate attempt to shield Nasica from popular 
indignation. He was branded as the murderer of Gracchus, and 
his friends advised him to quit Italy, though, as Chief Pontifex, 
he was prohibited from doing so. Not long time after he died 
at Pergamus, and Crassus succeeded him in the Pontificate. 

§ 2. But in the course of the next year (132 b.c.) the Senate 
was induced to give the new Consuls a Commission to inquire 
into the conduct of those who had abetted Gracchus. They 
began their proceedings by associating with themselves C. 
Lselius, a man of known moderation. Before the inquiry com- 
menced, Lselius sent for Blossius, and questioned him privately 
as to his part in the late disturbances. He excused himself 
on the ground that he had only followed the Tribune's orders. 
" That," said Lselius, " is no excuse. What would you have 
done if he had ordered you to set the Capitol on fire?" 
"Gracchus," replied Blossius, "could never have given such an 
order." "But if he had?" insisted Lfslius. "Then," said 
Blossius, " I Avould have done it." This bold partisan, however, 
was suffered to escape. Diophanes of Mitylene, another of the 
preceptors of Gracchus, was arrested by the Consuls and put to 
death. Others also lost their lives, and some escaped death by 
exile. These whole proceedings were in violation of the Laws 
of Appeal ; for the Consuls had no legal power to try and con- 
demn within the City. 

§ 3. It was not probably till the autumn of this year that 
Scipio celebrated his Numantian triumph. It was not gorgeous 
with spoils and a long train of captives, for the Numantians had 
buried themselves and their possessions beneath the ruins of 
their city. But the presence of Scipio, at this moment, was or 
might be pregnant with results ; and as he passed in procession 
to the Capitol, many eyes turned to him with «;^pectation. It 
might be thought that his approval of the death of Gracchus 



Chap. LII. SCIPIO AJSTD CRASSUS. 529 

sufficiently indicated -svliat part he intended to take. But it was 
possible for him to disapprove of the conduct of Gracchus with- 
out disapproving of his purpose. The countrymen of Latium 
and Italy had fought under him at Carthage and at Numantia. 
It was known that among the rest he had shown especial honour 
to a young soldier of Arpinum, of humble birth and rude man- 
ners. On one occasion he had invited this youth to supper, and 
placed him by his side ; and when some flatterer asked where 
a general could be found to succeed him, " Perhaps here," he 
said, laying his hand on the young soldier's arm. The name of 
the youth was C. Marius. 

§ 4. Whatever doubt might rest on Scipio's intentions, he 
soon made it clear that he had no intention of holding out a 
hand to the Civic Populace. One of the partisans of Gracchus, 
by name C. Papirius Carbo, a man of ready wit, but in character 
turbulent, reckless, and unprincipled, hoped to raise himself to 
importance by means of this rabble. He was Tribune for the 
year, and had carried a law for extending the use of the ballot 
into the legislative assemblies of the People. He now brought 
forward another bill, making it legal to reelect a Tribune to a 
second year of office. Scipio and Lselius opposed the measure, 
and the former spoke so Avarmly against it, that it was rejected 
by the Tribes, though young C. Gracchus made his first public 
speech in its favour. It Avas then that Carbo publicly demanded 
of Scipio what he thought of the death of Gracchus. " That he 
was rightly put to death," Scipio promptly replied. At these 
words an angry shout was raised. Scipio turned sternly to the 
quarter from which it came, — " Peace," he said, " ye stepsons of 
Italy : remember who it was that brought you in chains to 
Rome." 

§ 5. Early in the following year, however (131 B.C.), an incident 
occurred which also parted Scipio from Crassus. The Consuls 
for the year were Crassus himself and L. Valerius Flaccus. The 
former was Pontifex Maximus, the latter was Flamen of Mars. 
It happened that one Aristonicus, a bastard son of the last 
Attains, had raised an insurrection in the mountain-districts near 
Pergamus, and matters had become so serious, that a Consular 
army was required. Both Consuls were eager for command ; 
but by reason of their sacred offices they were both legally 
unable to leave Italy, and Scipio's tried skill in war pointed him 
out as the fittest man for command. Yet such was the popu- 
larity of Crassus, that out of thirty -five. Tribes, two only voted 
for Scipio and the rest for him. Considering a vote of the People 
as superior to the law, he completed his levies and set out for 
Pergamus, never to return. Scipio retired from Rome in disgust. 

23 



530 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VL 

In this same year the Censorsliip was held by Q. Metellus and 
Q. Pompeius, — an event noted by all the historians as memor- 
able, since now for the first time two men of plebeian blood 
were elected to the most august magistracy of the State. It is 
rather matter of wonder that an artificial distinction, which for 
all practical purposes was obsolete, should have been so long 
retained in the Censorship, than that it should now have ceased. 

§ 6. If Crassus had returned, he might have taken more active 
steps to diminish the violence which the democratic leaders were 
beginning to encourage. But early in the year 130 b.c. he was 
defeated by Aristonicus in a pitched battle, and taken prisoner. 
The Roman statesman and jurist, deeming slavery intolerable, 
purposely struck the barbarian who had captured him in the 
face with his sword-belt, and was instantly cut down. His head 
was carried to Aristonicus : his body interred at Smyrna. 

About the same time died App. Claudius. The natural leader 
of the Gracchan party would now have been C. Gracchus. But 
this young man had withdrawn from public life at the advice 
of his mother Cornelia. Consequently fresh power fell into the 
hands of the reckless Carbo, who was supported by Fulvius 
Flaccus ; and the whole character of the party became more 
positively democratic. 

§ 7. These leaders sought to recover their popularity with 
the country Tribes by calling the Agrarian Law into fresh life. 
Of the three Commissioners elected for the year C. Gracchus 
still appeared on the list ; the vacancies made by the deaths of 
Crassus and App. Claudius were filled by Carbo and Flaccus. 

The rich Landholders had endeavoured to baffle the law by 
passive resistance. To foil this policy, Carbo and his colleagues 
issued a proclamation, calling for informations against all who 
had not duly registered themselves as holders of Public Land. 
The call was readily obeyed, and the Triumvirs were soon over- 
burdened with names. The next step was to decide on the 
rights of the present holders, and to determine the boundaries 
between the private and the public lands in each estate. This 
was a task of extreme delicacy, and here the loss of Crassus was 
sensibly felt. The ignorant and reckless Carbo raised up a host 
of formidable opponents. 

§ 8. Portions of the Public Land had often been alienated by 
grant or sale. The holders were now, in consequence of Carbo's 
proclamation, suddenly called upon to produce their title-deeds, 
which in many cases were missing ; so that a vast number of 
these holders were liable to be stripped of lands which were 
undoubtedly their own. Further, in cases where persons held 
property partly public and partly private, there were often no 



Chap. LII. SCIPIO. 531 

documents to show whicli part was public and wliicli private. 
Tlie Commissioners acted in the most arbitrary way, and exas- 
perated a vast number of persons throughout all Italy; 
and thus a new popular party was called forth, which exer- 
cised a most important influence on the events of the next 
fifty years. In Carbo's rash haste to win the Roman coun- 
trymen he recked not of the hostility of Latins and Italians; 
and those who had lately worshipped Gracchus now rose 
like one man to oppose those who now pretended to represent 
Gracchus. 

§ 9. These new opponents of the Agrarian Law had no mind 
to join the Roman oligarchs, but turned to Scipio and suppli- 
cated him to undertake their cause. They had claims upon 
him, for they had volunteered to fill his army when the Senate 
had no money to give him, and he had always manifested sym- 
pathy with them. Averse as he was from party politics, he 
did not shrink from the task, and the moderate party in the 
Senate welcomed his return. He began by moving that a 
Decree should issue for withdrawing from the Triumvirs the 
judicial power with which they had been invested by Gracchus, 
and transferring the jurisdiction to the Consuls, The Decree 
passed, and the task was committed to C. Sempronius Tuditanus, 
a man of refined taste, fonder of art and literature than of 
business. But news came of a movement among the lapydes, a 
people on the Illyrian frontier ; and Tuditanus eagerly seized 
this excuse for hastening to Aquileia, feeling confident that he 
could better cope with barbarous enemies than with the more 
barbarous perplexities of the law. 

All proceedings were thus cut short. The Senate had taken 
away jurisdiction from the Triumvirs ; the Consul to whom it 
was committed had fled. General discontent arose. Scipio was 
accused of having betrayed Roman interests to the Italians. His 
enemies spread reports that he had sold himself to the Oligarchy, 
that he intended to repeal the Sempronian Law by force, and let 
loose his Italian soldiery upon the People of Rome. 

§ 10. Scipio felt that it was necessary to explain his motives, 
and announced his purpose of delivering set speeches, one day in 
the Senate, and the day after in the Forum, The first only of 
these purposes was fulfilled. By his speech in the Senate he 
pledged himself to maintain the rights of the Latins and Italians 
against the Triumvirs, and to prevent the unjust assumption of 
the lands that had been granted to them. The Senate loudly 
applauded ; and Scipio was escorted home by the mass of the 
Senators with a jubilant crowd of Italians, Many thought this 
the most glorious day of his life. 



532 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOft^ Book VI. 

He retired to rest early, in good healtli. In the morning lie 
was found dead in his bed. By his side lay the tablets on which 
he had been noting down the heads of the oration which he had 
intended to make next day. 

§ 11. The death of Seipio struck consternation into the hearts 
of the Senators. Metellus exclaimed that he had been murdered. 
It is said that on the neck marks as of strangulation appeared ; 
and when he was carried out to burial the head was covered, 
contrary to custom. At the moment suspicion attached to 
C. Gracchus, and to his sister Sempronia, the wife of Seipio. 
But these unfounded rumoiirs soon passed over; and it was 
confidently affirmed that Carbo was the murderer. Cicero speaks 
of it as an undoubted fact ; the character, as well as the subse- 
quent history, of the man justifies the belief. 

§ 12. Thus died the younger Africanus. No public honours 
attested his public services. The funeral feast was furnished in 
the most thrifty manner by his nephew Q. Tubero, a rigid Stoic, 
who was glad thus to remind the people of their ingratitude. 

Seipio possessed no lofty genius like the great man whose name 
he bore ; yet there was at Rome no one of his own time to be com- 
pared with him. To say that he was the best general of the day 
is little praise, for military talent was at that time scarce ; but 
no doubt his abilities for war would have won him glory in the 
best times of the Republic. His disinterested generosity has 
been already noticed ; at his death he was found to be no richer 
than when he succeeded to the inheritance of the great Seipio. 
His love of the country and his habitual reserve led him to shun 
public life. But the austere manner and severe gravity which he 
commonly aff"ected gave way among his friends ; and there is 
nothing that more raises our esteem for Seipio than the warm 
attachment borne to him by such men as Polybius, as well as 
Lselius, Rupilius, and others, whom Cicero has introduced into 
his beautiful dialogues.* Seipio has usually been represented as 
a stiff adherent of the Oligarchy, but the facts of history dis- 
prove this opinion. He might have lived some years to mo- 
derate the fury of party strife, to awe the factious, and to sup- 
port just claims ; for at his death he numbered no more than 
six-and-fifty years. His death at this moment was perhaps the 
greatest loss that the Republic could have suflFered. 

* The Lselius (de Amieitia), and the Republica. The time at which the 
latter is supposed to be held is just before the death of Seipio. 




Walls of Rome, from the inside. 



CHAPTER LIII. 

CAIUS GRACCHUS AND HIS TIMES. (128 121 B.C.) 

1. General calm : Project for reconciling Romans with Italians : Law of 
Pennus for expelling Italians from Rome. § 2. C. Gracchus Quaestor in 
Sardinia. § 3. Fulvius Flaccus : his Bill for enfranchising Italians : he 
is sent into Transalpine Gaul. § 4. Revolt of Fregellse, quelled by Opimius. 
§ 5. Attempt to detain C. Gracchus in Sardinia : he is elected Tribune. 
§ 6. Former and present character of Caius : his eloquence. § T. Laws 
against his brother's enemies. § 8. Measures to improve condition of 
People: — (1.) Agrarian Law. (2.) Law for selling corn cheap to Popu- 
lace. § 9. Measures to abridge power of Senate : — (1.) Transference of 
Judicial Power from Senators to Equites. (2.) Assignment of Consular 
Provinces before Election. (3.) Public works. § 10. Purposes and Re- 
sults of Sempronian Laws. § 11. Election of Fannius as Consul: C. 
Gracchus reelected to Tribimate. § 12. Bill for enfranchising Itali.ins. 
§ 13. Unpopularity of proposal to enfranchise Italians : Fannius : Drusus. 
§ 14. Addition to Agrarian Law by C. Gracchus : Drusus outbids him. 
§15. Colonies in Provinces : proposal to colonise Carthage : Gracchus and 
Flaccus sent to found it. § 16. They return to Rome iu tima for 



534 " CIVIL WARS : FIRST PERIOD. Book VL 

Consular Elections: Opimius Consul. § IT. Ill report from Carthage : 
Assembly of Tribes on Capitol : tumult : durijig night Opimius collects 
an armed force upon the Capitol: Flaccus occupies Aventine. § 18. At- 
tack on At entine : death of Gracchus and Flaccus. § 19. Persecution: 
Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi. 
§ 1. The sudden death of Scipio was followed by a calm. The 
turbulent Carbo vanished from the scene, till nine years later he 
re-appears as a champion of the violent oligarchical party. C. 
Gracchus was still living in retirement. Fulvius Flaccus was 
content to let the Agrarian Law sleep in face of the portentous 
difficulties created by the measures of the Triumvirs. Nor was 
there anything in foreign affairs to ruffle the general calm. But 
under this external tranquillity a leaven of agitation was at 
work. It was not to be expected that the new-born jealousy 
which had sprung up between the Romans on the one side and 
the Latins and Italians on the other, would fall asleep. Proposals, . 
however, were set afloat for reconciling these two opposing inter- 
ests. The Italians were led to hope that they might be made 
citizens of Rome, on condition that they should not resist the 
execution of the Agrarian Law. 

• But the burgesses of Rome soon perceived that the admission 
of the Latins and Italians to the Roman franchise would reduce 
them to comparative insignificance. All the benefits now de- 
rived from the Provinces by Romans exclusively must then be 
shared with a vastly increased number of citizens, and the profits 
as well as the power of a Roman must be materially diminished. 
In the year 126 b.c. a large number of Italian strangers flocked 
to Rome, eager for the promised boon. But by this time public 
opinion at Rome was so far changed that M. Junius Pennus, one 
of the Tribunes, brought forward what we may call a severe 
Alien- Act, by which all strangers were compelled to quit Rome. 
The successors of Gracchus, however, remained constant to their 
new policy, and Caius himself was induced to speak in public for 
the second time. But he was unsuccessful. The Law of Pennus 
was passed ; and from this time may be dated that angry con- 
test of feeling between Romans and Italians which after thirty- 
eight years found vent in a bloody war. 

§ 2. When Caius delivered this speech he was Qusestor-elect for 
the next year. He was appointed to serve under the Consul 
L. Aurelius Orestes, when this officer undertook to reduce the 
Sardinian mountaineers, who had been subjugated by the father 
of young Gracchus fifty years before.* After the first year's 
operations Orestes was at a loss for supplies and clothing ; and 
from this difficulty he was relieved by his Qusestor, who by the 
* B.O. 111. See Chapt. xli. § 9. 



Chap. LIII. C. GRACCHUS. 535 

memory of his fatlier and his own persuasive eloquence induced 
the Sardinian colonists to give voluntarily what the soldiers 
wanted. Shortly after, envoys arrived at Rome from Micipsa, 
son of Masinissa, offering, from respect (as they said) for the 
name of Gracchus, to send supplies of corn to Sardinia. The 
Senate angrily dismissed the embassy. Orestes was directed to 
remain as Proconsul in his Province, and his Quaestor was ordered 
to continue in ofhce for a second year. 

§ 3. Meanwhile the country party had succeeded in carry- 
ing the election of their present chief, Fulvius Flaccus, to the 
Consulship for 125 B.C. He was a man with little force of 
oratory, but his activity and audacity gave him power, and his 
unchangeable attachment to the memory of Ti. Gracchus made 
him respectable. No sooner was he in the Consul's chair than 
he gave full proof of his headlong temerity by giving notice of a 
bill for extending the Franchise to all the Latin and Italian Allies. 
It was a Eeform Bill sweeping beyond all example. No addition 
had been made to the Roman territory or the number of Tribes 
since 241 B.C., a period of one hundred and sixteen years, and 
now at one stroke it was proposed to add to the register a 
population much more numerous than the Avhole existing number 
of Roman burgesses. The Tribes felt their interests to be at 
stake, and the measure of Flaccus was highly unpopular at Rome. 

At this moment, the Senate adroitly contrived to detach 
Flaccus upon foreign service. The people of Massilia, old allies 
of Rome, sent to demand protection against the Salluvians, a 
Ligurian tribe of the Maritime Alps, and Flaccus was ordered 
to take command of the army destined to relieve them. He 
remained in Gaul for more than two years, and was honoured 
with a triumph in the year 123 b.c. Meantime his great mea- 
sure for extending the Franchise fell to the ground. 

§ 4. But the hopes excited by the impetuous Consul were not 
easily relinquished. The excitement was great throughout Italy, 
and in one of the Latin Colonies the smouldering fire burst into 
flame. 

Fregellse was a large and flourishing city on the Latin road. 
It was one of the eighteen Colonies which had remained faithful 
to Rome in the Hannibalic War. It had seen the full Franchise 
conferred on its neighbours at Formias, Fundi, and Arpinum at 
the close of that war. And now the cup was dashed from the 
very lip. Fregellse flew to arms, without concert with any other 
towns ; and L. Opimius, one of the Praetors, a man of prompt 
resolution and devoid of pity, was ordered by the Senate to 
crush the insurrection. The gates were opened to him by trea- 
chery. Opimius took his seat in the Forum, and exercised a 



536 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

fearful vengeance on the inhabitants, for which he was rewarded 
by the Senate with a triumph. The walls were pulled down, 
and the Colony, stripped of all -its rights, was reduced to the con- 
dition of a mere market-town {conciliabuluni). The example of 
Fregellse for a time silenced the claims of the Italians. 

§ 5. Thus triumphant, the Senate determined to keep the 
chiefs of the Gracchan party absent from Rome. Flaccus had 
not yet finished his Gallic wars ; and an order was sent to 
detain C Gracchus for a third year in Sardinia. But the young 
Quaestor perceived the drift of this order, and returned to Rome 
about the middle of the year 124 B.C., to the no small consterna- 
tion of the Senate. He was instantly summoned before the 
Censors then in office to account for his conduct, in order that 
he might be branded with a public stigma, and thus disqualified 
from taking his seat in the Senate-House. He made his de- 
fence to the people in a set speech, in which he declared that 
the Senate had no right to keep him employed as Quaestor for 
more than one year. " No one," added he, " can say that I have 
received a penny in presents, or have put any one to charges 
on my own account. The purse which I took out full I have 
brought back empty; though I could name persons who took 
out casks filled with wine and brought them home charged with 
money." He was triumphantly acquitted, and at once came 
forward as candidate for the Tribunate. The Senate exerted all 
their influence to prevent his election, and succeeded so far that 
his name stood only fourth on the list. But as soon as he en- 
tered office, no one disputed his title to be first. 

§ 6. The die was now cast. For ten years he had held back 
from public life ; but the vexatious course pursued by the Senate 
roused him to action ; the pent-up energy of his passionate 
nature burst forth, and he threw aside all restraints both of fear 
and of prudence. 

Hitherto there had been no proof of the young speaker's 
powers. Twice only had he spoken in public, and both times 
he had been on the losing side. But years of diligent study 
had passed ; and he became the greatest orator that Rome had 
yet seen. Much as Cicero disliked Gracchus, he speaks with 
lively admiration of his genius, and laments the loss which Latin 
literature had sustained by his early death. The care which the 
young orator bestowed on preparation was extraordinary : he was 
the first that used regular gesticulation : in his most fiery out- 
bursts his voice was so modulated as never to offend the ear.* 

* The story was that he always had a slave at his elbow who gave him the 
right note by a pitch-pipe. — Cicero de Oratore, iii. 61. But Cicero himself is 
puzzled by this curious device, — " cujus ego nondum plane rationem intelligo." 



Chap. LIII. C. GRACCHUS. 537 

§ Y. His first measures are marked by that which was tlie 
ruling passion of his life, — a burning desire to avenge his brother's 
death. Nasica Avas beyond his reach. But others, who had 
persecuted the friends and followers of Tiberius, were yet alive, 
and he inveighed against their cruel severity on all occasions. 
" Your ancestors," he exclaimed, " suffered not their Tribunes 
to be trampled down. But you^ — you let these men beat Tibe- 
rius to death, and murder his friends without a trial !" 

iVccordingly he brought a bill before the Tribes aimed at 
Popillius, who had been the head of the special Commission 
appointed after the death of Tiberius. It declared any magis- 
trate guilty of treason avIio had punished a citizen capitally 
without the consent of the People. Before it passed, Popillius' 
left Rome; and the Tribes, on the motion of Caius, banished 
him from the soil of Italy. 

The young Tiibune next moved that any one who should 
have been deprived of office by a vote of the People should be 
incapable of holding any other office, — an enactment evidently 
pointed at his brother's old opponent Octavius. Fortunately 
for the honour of Gracchus, he was stopped in his career of 
vengeance by the intercession of his mother. 

§ 8. He now turned his thoughts to measures of a public 
nature, and brought forward a series of important bills, long 
known as the Sempronian Laws, so sweeping in their design, as 
to show that he meditated no less than a revolution in the 
government of Rome. They may be divided into two classes : 
first, those which were intended to ameliorate the condition of 
the People ; secondly, those which aimed at diminishing the 
power of the Senate. 

(1.) Foremost in the first class we may place a bill for renew- 
ing and extending the Agrarian Law of his brother, which was 
coupled with a measure for planting new Colonies in divers parts 
of Italy, and even in the Provinces. As the execution of this 
law was deferred till the next year, we will defer further mention 
of it here. This enactment was evidently intended to conciliate 
the country Tribes. 

(2.) The second Sempronian Law was the famous measure by 
which the State undertook to furnish corn at a low price to all 
Roman citizens. It provided that any one possessing the Roman 
franchise should be allowed to purchase grain from public stores 
at 6i ases the modius, or about 25 ases the bushel ; the losses 
incident to such sale being borne by the Treasury. 

Public measures for distributing corn in times of scarcity had 
long been familiar to Roman statesmen ; and individuals had 
more than once sought popularity by doles to the poor. But 

23* 



538 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

now, for the first time, was a Eight established by Law. The 
necessary results of such a measure must have been, and were, 
very fatal. Fifty years later, it was found necessary to limit the 
quantity sold to five modii (li bushels) a month for each person; 
and 40,000 citizens were habitual purchasers. Successive dema- 
gogues reduced the price, till the profligate Clodius enacted that 
these 1;^ bushels should be given away without any payment. 
The Dictator Caesar found no fewer than 320,000 citizens in the 
monthly receipt of this dole. He reduced the number to 
150,000 : and Augustus fixed it at a maximum of 200,000 souls.* 
Such was the mass of paupers saddled upon the Imperial govern- 
ment by the unwise law of Gracchus. 

' § 9. We now pass on to the measures which aimed at de- 
priving the Senate of the great administrative power which of 
late years it had engrossed. 

(l.) The first of these touched their Judicial power. It has 
been mentioned, that by the famous Calpurnian Law (149 b.c.) 
all Provincial Magistrates accused of corrupt dealings in their 
government were to be tried before the Prsetor Peregrinus as 
presiding Judge, and a Jury of Senators. This was the first 
regular and permanent Court of Justice established at Rome.f 
The principle of the Calpurnian Law was gradually extended to 
other grave offences ; and in all the superior courts the Juries 
were composed of Senators. 

These Courts had given little satisfaction. In all important 
cases of corruption, especially such as occurred in the Provinces, 
the offenders were themselves Senators. Some of the Judges had 
been guilty of like offences, others hoped for opportunities of 
committing like offences ; extortion was looked upon as a venial 
crime ; prosecutions became a trial of party strength, and the 
culprit was usually absolved. 

Gracchus now took the Judicial power altogether out of the 
hands of the Senate, and transferred it to a body of Three Hun- 
dred persons, to be chosen periodically from all citizens who 
possessed the Equestrian rate of property .J By this measure 
he smote the Senate with a two-edged sword. For not only did 
he deprive it of the means of shielding its own members, but he 
also gave a political constitution to a rival Order. The Eques- 
trian Order, as a political body, entirely distinct from a mere 
military class, now first received distinct recognition. ' 

* 200,000 persons, receiving monthly 1|- bushels, -would receive in the 
year 315,000 quarters. Taking wheat at 50s. the quarter, the corn-bounty 
would cost, in our money, 937,500?. per annum, 

f Hence these permanent courts were called Qucestiones perpetual. 

X This Register was called the Album Judicum 



Chap. LIII. C. GRACCHUS. 539 

It is doubtful Avlietlier this measure of reform was followed by 
the good eftects intended by Graccbus. If tbe governors of 
Provinces were Senators, tbe farmers of tbe taxes were Equites. 
Tbe new Juries bad tbeir personal reasons for acquitting cor- 
rupt magistrates ; for witbout tbe countenance of tbese magis- 
trates tbey could not demand money from tbe Provincials be- 
yond wbat was strictly legal. Tbe constitution of tbese Juries 
formed a cbief ground of political contest for tbe next fifty 
years. 

(2.) Anotber measure wbicb fettered tbe power and patronage 
of tbe Senate was tbe Sempronian Law for tbe assignment of 
tbe Consular Provinces. Hitberto tbe Senate bad refrained from 
determining tbese Provinces till after tbe elections ; and tbey 
tbus bad a ready way of marking displeasure by allotting unpro- 
fitable governments to Consuls wbom tbey disliked. But Grac- 
cbus now ordained tbat tbe two Consular Provinces sbould be 
fixed before tbe elections, and tbat tbe new Consuls, immediately 
upon tbeir election, sbould settle between tbemselves wbat Pro- 
vinces eacb was to administer, eitber by lot or by agreement 
{sortitio or comparatio). It was a wise and equitable provision, 
wbicb remained in force as long as tbe Eepublic lasted. 

(3.) A great blow was given to Senatorial power by a measure 
for improving tbe roads of Italy. Public works of all kinds bad 
bitberto been left to tbe Censors, subject to tbe approval of tbe 
Senate. Graccbus now transferred tbe business to tbe Tribunes. 

§ 10. Tbis account of tbe cbief Sempronian Laws sbows tbe 
spirit wbicb animated Graccbus. It is plain tbat bis main pur- 
pose was to diminisb tbe increased and increasing power of tbe 
Senate. It was no doubt a confusion between tbe pitfjjoses and 
tbe results of tbe Sempronian Legislation tbat swelled tbe cry 
against Graccbus in after times. It is clear, bowever, tbat be bad 
no cbance of amending tbe corrupt government of tbe Senatorial 
Oligarcby, unless be first weakened tbeir power ; and if be fancied 
tbat administrative functions migbt safely be controlled by a large 
and fluctuating popular Assembly, sometbing may be forgiven 
to political inexperience. Representative bodies are a modern 
invention ; and tbe wisest of tbe ancients found no baiting-place 
between Aristocracy and Democracy. Graccbus was not witbout 
misgivings as to the efi'ects of bis legislation. But it was too 
late to draw back ; and bis zeal was quickened by tbe return of 
Fulvius Flaccus from Gaul. 

§11. By bis measures Graccbus bad so won all sufi"rages, tbat 
be and bis friend Flaccus were absolute masters of tbe Comitia. 
Tbe elections of Curule ofiicers for tbe next year were at band, 
and Graccbus told tbe People be had a favour to ask. Every 



540 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

one expected that he would demand his own election to some 
high office : but to the surprise of all he proposed as Candidate 
for the Consulship C. Fannius, an old comrade of his brother. 
Fannius was elected as a matter of course, to the rejection of 
L. Opimius, the Senatorial Candidate. 

The Tribunician elections followed. Flaccus, though he had 
been Consul, appeared as Candidate for an office that had been 
raised by the Gracchi to sovereign power. But Gracchus was not 
by his side ; for it had been made illegal that the same man 
should be reelected Tribune. However, there were not can- 
didates enough for the ten places ; and the People, exercising 
the absolute right of choice Avhich in this contingency was 
allowed, reelected Gracchus by a unanimous vote. Not more 
than seven months of his first year's Tribunate were over ; and 
he was secure of power for the next seventeen months at 
least. He now put forth all the tremendous power of the 
office. The Senate sate powerless, and Caius Gracchus became 
for a time the virtual sovereign of the Empire. 

§ 12. Immediately on reflection, Gracchus came forward with 
a Bill for extending the Roman Franchise, certainly to the citi- 
zens of all Latin Colonies, probably to all free Italian commu- 
nities. Here we recognise the hand of Flaccus, who had in his 
Consulship raised this momentous question, and resumed the 
project on the first opportunity after his return. 

There can be no doubt that some change in this direction was 
necessary. The admission of the Latins and Italians to full 
citizenship would infuse a quantity of new blood into the decay- 
ing frame of the Roman People ; and, by extending to all Italians 
the benefits of the Agrarian law, there was really a good hope 
of reviving that hardy race of yeomen who were regretted by all 
Roman Statesmen, Scipio had induced the Senate for a moment 
to take up this cause ; but after the revolt of Fregellse, all 
thoughts of an extension of the Franchise had been dropped. 
The difficulty was how to favour the Italians without provoking 
the Roman Tribesmen. It is manifest that the project was still 
unpopular in the Forum, for Gracchus laboured to show that 
the Roman People and the Italians had one grievance in com- 
mon, namely, the tyranny of the Senatorial Oligarchy. " The 
other day," he told them, " the magistrates of Teanum had been 
stripped naked and scourged, because the Consul's lady com- 
plained that the public baths there had not been properly 
cleaned for her use." ..." How great is the insolence of the 
young Nobles, a single example would show. One of them was 
travelling through Apulia in a litter, and a countryman, meeting 
the bearers, asked Avhether they had got a dead man inside. For 



Chap. LIII. C. GRACCHUS. 541 

this word, the young kird ordered the poor man to be beaten 
to death with tlie cords of the litter." 

§ 13. The chiefs of the Senate perceived that the proposal to 
enfranchise the Italians had sapped his popularity at Rome. 
The Consul Fannius, notwithstanding the part Gracchus had 
taken in his election, vehemently opposed the measure. He 
declared that he Avould again bring forward the Alien-Act of 
Pennus, and expel all foreigners from Rome. The Senate soon 
after ventured a step further. One of the new Tribunes, M. 
Livius Drusus by name, a young man of high birth, rich, elo- 
quent, ambitious, and determined, undertook to thwart the 
progress of his great colleague, and he put a veto on the law 
for enfranchising the Latins. 

§ 14. We must now return to the Agrarian Law. In further- 
ance of this Law, Caius proposed to plant Colonies in divers 
parts of Italy ; Capua and Tarentum were fixed upon as the first 
of these new settlements ; but here he showed no democratic 
tendencies; for no allotments were given to citizens, however 
poor, unless their character was respectable ; and only a small 
number of colonists w^ere to be sent to each place. 

Drusus Avas not slow to take advantage of these unpopular 
provisions. He resolved to outbid Gracchus, and the agent of 
the Nobility became a demagogue. He proposed to found no 
fewer than twelve Colonies at once, each to consist of 3000 
families, to be chosen Avithout respect to character. All these 
Colonists were to hold their allotments rent-free. Drusus openly 
avowed that he made these propositions in favor of the poor 
on the part of the Senate ; and declared in significant terms 
that he would not himself accept any part in the honour or emo- 
lument to be derived from the office of foundmg these Colonies, 
Avhereas Gracchus had himself superintended all the public works 
which he had originated. 

§ 15. At this time, plans were on foot for extending the Italian 
system of colonisation to the Provinces. In this very year, C. 
Sextius Calvinus, who had succeeded Flaccus as Proconsul in 
Gaul, founded the town of Aqute Sextia?, still called Aix, in 
Southern Gaul ; four years later Narbo Marcius, or Narbonne, 
was planted further westward in the same country. But Grac- 
chus himself was the first Avho had proposed to plant a Colony 
beyond the Italian Peninsula ; and the place he fixed upon was 
Carthage. The plan was taken up by the Senate. The new 
Colony was to be called Junonia, and it was dexterously con- 
trived that Gracchus himself, with Flaccus and another,* should 
be the Commissioners for distributing the lands and marking 
the limits of the settlement. In this way, the formidable Tri- 



542 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI 

bune and his most active supporter were obliged to quit Rome 
just when their presence was most needed to revive their 
drooping popularity. 

§ 16. The Commissioners applied themselves to their task with 
so much assiduity that they returned to Eome in time for the 
Consular elections. The ruthless Opimius was again candidate, 
and Gracchus exerted himself to the utmost to reorganise his 
party, but in vain. Popular feeling was strongly marked by the 
triumphant election of Opimius to the Consulship, in company 
with Q. Fabius, son of Scipio's elder brother, a man personally 
hostile to Gracchus. 

The Tribunician elections followed, and were equally signi- 
ficant of the temper of the People. Neither Gracchus nor 
Flaccus Avas reelected. The remainder of the year indeed passed 
by quietly. But at the beginning of the year 121 b.c. Opimius 
became Consul, and it was evident that danger was at hand. 

§ 17. Gracchus and his friends prudently refrained from 
all offensive steps ; but as he would give no grounds for pro- 
ceeding against him, Opimius resolved to make them. News 
arrived from the new Colony at Carthage to the effect that it 
had been planted on the ground cursed by Scipio : the wrath of 
the gods had been shown by the fact that wolves had torn down 
the boundary-posts. The Senate met, and on the motion of 
Opimius ordered the Tribunes to call a meeting of the Tribes 
upon the Capitol, to rescind the law for colonising Carthage. 
The place was ominous, for there Ti. Gracchus had been slain. 

On the appointed morning the impetuous Flaccus appeared 
with a large retinue armed with daggers. Gracchus followed 
with a considerable suite. Flaccus spoke vehemently to the 
Tribes, while Gracchus stood aloof in the portico of the Temple, 
in which Opimius was offering sacrifice. Here he was encoun- 
tered by a retainer of the Consul, who insolently pushed Gracchus 
aside, crying, "Make way for honest men." Gracchus cast an 
angry look upon the man, who presently fell stabbed to the 
heart by an unknown hand. A cry of murder was raised, and 
the crowd fled in alarm to the Forum. Gracchus retired to his 
house, regretting the rash imprudence of his followers. Mean- 
time the "body of the slain man was paraded before the eyes of 
the terrified People. The Senate armed the Consuls with a 
Decree, by Avhich Gracchus was proclaimed a public enemy; 
and Opimius took station during the night in the Temple of 
Castor, by the side of the Forum. He summoned the Senate 
to a special sitting early next morning ; and also sent to all on 
whom he could rely, desiring them to come armed to the Forum, 
and each man to brina: two armed slaves. With this force he 



Chap. LIII. C. GRACCHUS. 543 

occupied the Capitol at daybreak, and prepared to execute the 
■will of the Senate. 

Gracchus was irresolute ; hut Flaccus summoned to his house 
all Avho were ready to resist Senatorial authority. Here he armed 
them with the Celtic weapons which he had brought home from 
his Gallic campaigns, and kept up their courage by deep pota- 
tions of wine. Early in the morning he occupied a strong po- 
sition on the Aventine, where he was joined by Gracchus, who 
sighed over the necessity of using force. 

§ 18. When the Senate met, the popular leaders were sum- 
moned to attend in their places, and explain the proceedings of 
the previous day. They answered by proclaiming liberty to all 
slaves who should join them. Nothing could more show the 
desperate aspect which the struggle had assumed. Yet before 
blood flowed, Gracchus insisted on trying negotiation, and 
Q. Flaccus, a handsome youth of eighteen, son of the ex-Tribune, 
was sent. But already the Senate had invested Opimius with 
dictatorial power. The only answer the Consul returned was 
that the leaders must appear before the Senate, and explain their 
conduct ; and when young Quintus came back with a fresh mes- 
sage, Opimius arrested him. He now set a price on the heads 
of Gracchus and Fulvius Flaccus, and ordered an immediate at- 
tack upon the Aventine. Under arms appeared the noblest men 
at Rome, P. Lentulus, Chief of the Senate, old Metellus Mace- 
donicus, and many others. For their leader they chose not the 
Consul, but L. Junius Brutus, the Spanish conqueror. The attack 
was opened under cover of a shower of arrows from a body of 
Cretan bowmen. Little or no resistance was oflPered. Flaccus 
fled with his eldest son. Gracchus retired into the Temple of 
Diana, where he was hardly prevented from putting an end to 
his own life by two faithful friends, the Knights Pomponius and 
Lsetorius. Urged by them to flee, he threw himself on his knees, 
and prayed the goddess to punish the unworthy people of Rome 
by everlasting slavery. All three then took their way down to 
the Porta Trigemina, hotly pursued. Pomponius made a stand 
in the gateway to cover his friend's escape across the Sublician 
Bridge, and fell pierced with many wounds. Lsetorius showed 
no less devotion by gallantly turning to bay upon the bridge 
till he knew that Gracchus was safe over, when he sprang into 
the river and perished. Gracchus with a single slave reached 
the Grove of the Furies, and here both were found dead. The 
faithful slave had first held the sword to his master's heart, and 
then fallen upon it himself. One Septimuleius cut ofi" the head 
of Gracchus, and was rewarded by the fierce Opimius with its 
weight in gold. 



544 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

Flaccus and his eldest son had found shelter in the bath- 
house of a friend. The Consul's myrmidons tracked them, and 
threatened to set fire to the house. The owner, alarmed for 
his property, allowed another to disclose the secret, though he 
did not choose to speak the word himself. They were dragged 
forth and slain with every mark of indignity. The handsome 
youth who had been arrested before the assault commenced was 
allowed to put himself to death. 

§ 19. Great numbers of the partisans of Gracchus were thrown 
into prison, and put to death without trial. The stream of Tiber 
flowed thick with corpses. The inconstant mob plundered their 
houses without molestation. The widows and friends of the 
slain were forbidden by Consular edict to wear mourning. 
When the bloody work was done, the City was purged by a formal 
lustration ; and the Consul, by order of the Senate, laid the 
foundations of a Temple of Concord. Under the inscription 
placed on it by Opimius was found next morning another to this 
effect : — 

"Workers of Discord raise a shrine to Concord.* 

But none dared openly avow themselves friends of the Gracchi. 
The son of Caius died soon after ; and except Sempronia, the 
widow of Scipio, none of the race remained. Cornelia retired to 
Misenum, where she lived for many years, not so much sorrowing 
for the loss of her sons as dwelling with delight on the memory 
of their acts. Many visited her in retirement, chiefly learned 
Greeks, to hear the story 'of the bold Eeformers. Calmly and 
loftily she told the tale, declaring that her sons had found worthy 
graves in the Temples of the Gods. In after days her statue in 
bronze was set up in the Forum, with the Greek sandals on her 
feet which had been made a reproach to her illustrious father. 
Beneath it were placed these words only : — To Cornelia, the 
Mother op the Gracchi. 

* ^pyov dnovoiag vabv Sfiovolag noLel. — Plut. Vit. O. Gracchi, c. 17. 



CHAPTER LIV. 

JUGURTHA AND HIS TIMES. (120 104 B.C.) 

§ 1. Danger of delayed Reformation. § 2. Indictment of Opimius : suicide 
of Carbo. § 3. The nobler sort in the Senate: the Metelli: Scam'us. 
§ -i. Conquest of Balearic Isles : "Wars in Gaul : Fabius Allobrogicus. § 5. 
Jugurtha. § 6. Murder of Hiempsal : Ifumidia divided by Senate between 
Adherbal and Jugurtha. § 1. Murder of Adherbal. § 8. The Tribune 
Memmius forces the Senate to proclaim "War. § 9. Futile campaign of 
Bestia : Jugurtha summoned to Rome. § 10. Jugurtha procures murder 
ofMassiva: is ordered to quit Rome. § 11. Metellus appoioted to com- 
mand. § 12. Commission of inquiry: Bestia, Albinus, and others put to 
death. § 13. Severity of Metellus : his legate C. Marius. § 14. First 
campaign of Metellus. § 15. Jugurtha offers to treat : diplomacy of 
Metellus. § 16. Marius depreciates Metellus : he is elected Consul. § IT. 
Second campaign of Metellus : Cirta taken : Jugurtha takes refuge "with 
Boeehus, § IS. Conunand transferred by People to Marius. § 19. Return 
of Metellus to Rome. § 20. Marius completes the conquest of Numidia : 
Sylla : his early life, § 21. Sylla sent to the court of Bocchus to obtain 
the person of Jugurtha: Jugurtha betrayed: Sylla's arrogance. § 22. 
Triumph and reelection of Marius. § 23. Lliserable end of Jugurtha. 

§ 1. The cruel times whicli followed made the best men of both 
parties regret the untimely end of those who had sacrificed 
wealth, rank, tranquillity, in the hope of reforming the State by 
peaceful methods. It is not the less true because it is an epi- 
gram, " that the blood of the Gracchi was the seed sown, and 
Marius was the fruit." But Marius, though the most ruthless, 
was not the worst of the successors of the Gracchi. So savage 
were the party quarrels which followed, that good men shrank 
in despair from the cause of Reform, and the conduct of the 
popular party was abandoned to needy demagogues. Such is the 
common course of Revolutions. They begin with noble aspira- 
tions ; they end in reckless violence. At length public spirit is 
lost, and all men, sighing for tranquillity, seek it in the strong 
rule of an armed soldier. It is a thrice-told tale. 

§ 2. As the murder of Tiberius had been avenged upon Nasica, 
so there was even now found a Tribune bold enough to indict 
Opimius. The accuser bore the time-honoured name of Decius ; 
the defender was that Carbo who was more than suspected of 
Scipio's murder, and who was now Consul (120 B.C.) : his elo- 
quence and the terror that prevailed procured an acquittal. But 



646^ CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VL 

Carbo, though he earned the gratitude of the Nobility by de- 
fending their champion, did not find his eloquence equally 
effectual in defending himself. It was at that time the practice 
of young Romans who aspired to distinction to attract public 
notice by indicting some great offender before the People. 
L. Licinius Crassus, son of Crassus the Pontifex, and brother- 
in-law of C. Gracchus, though only one-and-twenty years of age, 
felt within him that power of speech which in later days gained 
him the appellation of the Orator ; and he singled out Carbo for 
attack. So fierce was the invective of the young accuser that 
Carbo put an end to his own life by poison. 

§ 3. The Nobility probably cared little for the life of a worth- 
less renegade. The best men in the Senate, indeed, regretted 
what they considered the necessity of taking up arms against 
Gracchus. First among these was old Metellus Macedonicus, 
who died full of honours and years seven years after the death 
of C. Gracchus. He left four sons. Before his death three of 
them had been Consuls ; the fourth was candidate for the Con- 
sulship at his father's death ; but his two nephews, sons of his 
brother Calvus, were more distinguished than his own offspring. 
Quintus the younger, under the title of Numidicus, shortly after- 
wards became the most eminent man in the ranks of the Nobility. 
In the course of twenty years the Metelli enjoyed six Consulships 
and four Censorships, besides five triumphs. Such an aggre- 
gation of honours in one family was without example. The 
worst fault of the Metelli was pride ; but if they were not be- 
loved, they were at least respected by the People. 

A person who plays a large part in the events of the next 
years was M. JEmilius Scaurus, a man of more dubious charac- 
ter. Horace names him with some of the greatest men of olden 
time;* Sallust represents him as disgracing high qualities by 
an inordinate love for money. The facts we shall have to re- 
cord will show that in his earlier days he was infected by the 
corruption of his compeers, while in later life his prudence was 
so great as to stand for principle. He was born in 163 B.C., so 
that at the fall of C. Gracchus he had reached that ripe age 
which was required for the Consulship. -Though he belonged 
to a great Patrician Gens, his family was so obscure that he 
was accounted a New Man. His father had been a charcoal 
merchant, and left his son so poor that the future ruler of the 
Empire had at one time contemplated following the trade of a 
money-changer. But he was encouraged to try the chances of 

* Reguliim, et Scauros, animaeque magnaa 

Prodigum, Pceno superante, PauUum. — 1. Carm. xii. SY. 



Chap. LIV. JUGURTHA. 54V 

political life; and in 115 B.C. lie reached the Consulate. By his 
ability and discretion he so won the confidence of the Senate that 
at the first vacancy he was named Princeps. He was a man less 
seen than felt. His oratory wanted fire ; but his talents for 
business, and his dexterity in the management of parties, made 
him the most important person in the field of politics from the 
fall of Gracchus till the rise of Sylla. 

The more prudent or more severe among the Senators be- 
lieved that reform in the State might be averted by a reformation 
of Manners. But in vain. The business of Jugurtha brought 
into full light the venality and corruption of the dominant 
statesmen. 

§ 4. We have said little of the Wars of Rome since the fall of 
Numantia and the termination of the Servile War. They were 
not considerable. The kingdom of Pergamus had formed the 
tenth Province. The eldest son of old Metellus earned the title 
of Balearicus for subduing the Balearic Isles (121 B.C.); his eldest 
nephew that of Delmaticus for putting down an outbreak of the 
Dalmatians (117 b.c.) 

More attention was excited by wars in the South of Gaul, ana 
more permanent efi"ects followed. The success of Fulvius 
Flaccus, the friend of the Gracchi, in defending Marseilles, has 
been already noticed. C. SeXtius, who succeeded Flaccus in 
123 B.C., secured his conquests by founding the colony of Aquae 
Sextiae, which under the name of Aix still attracts visitors for the 
sake of its hot springs. These conquests brought the Romans in 
contact with -the AUobrogians, between the Rhone and the Isere ; 
and this people threw themselves on the protection of Bituitus, 
chief of the Arvernians (Auvergne). Q. Fabius, while Opimius 
was crushing C. Gracchus, crossed the Isere. A desperate battle 
ensued, in which the Proconsul, with 30,000 men, is said to have 
so completely routed 200,000 Gauls, that in the battle and pur- 
suit no less than 130,000 fell. Fabius was suff"ering from a 
quartan ague, but in the heat of conflict shook ofi" his disease. 
He assumed the title of Allobrogicus with better right than 
many who Avere decorated with these national surnames. The 
war was now carried into the Arvenian country, and the great 
triumphs of Caesar might have been anticipated by some Sena- 
torial Commander, when it Avas brought to a sudden end. An 
enemy, formidable alike to Romans and Gauls, well known a 
few years later under the dreaded names of Cimbrians and 
Teutons, had appeared on the north-eastern frontier of Gaul, 
and threatened to overrun all southern Europe. But circum- 
stances deferred for a time the conflict between Italy and 
those barbarous hordes, and for the present the dominion of 



548 CIVIL WARS : FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

Rome was firmly established in. tlie southern angle of Gaul, 
between the Alps and Pyrenees, a district which still preserves 
its Eoman name, " the Province," in the French Provence. The 
whole northern coast of the Mediterranean, from the Pillars of 
Hercules to Syria, now owned the sovereignty of Rome. 

§ 5. Attention was now for a time riveted upon the affairs of 
Africa. The kingdom of Masinissa, as we said, had been divided 
among his three sons, Micipsa, Mastanarbal, and Golossa. The 
last two had died, and left Micipsa sole King of Numidia. The 
old friendship between this country and Rome was cemented by 
the flourishing corn-trade that grew up there, which supplied the 
failing crops of Italy. Micipsa died in 118 b.c, leaving two sons, 
Adherbal and Hiempsal. By their side stood their cousin Ju- 
gurtha, a bastard. This young man was considerably older 
than his cousins. Sixteen years before he had served with 
credit under Scipio at Numantia. The young nobles of Scipio's 
camp suggested to the African Prince that, at the death of Mi- 
cipsa, he should purchase the support of Rome and seize the 
Numidian crown. " At Rome," they said, " all things might be 
had for money." The intriguing character of Jugurtha escaped 
not the discernment of Scipio. At parting, he said : " Trust 
to your own good qualities, and power Avill come of itself Seek 
it by base arts, and you will lOse all." Old Micipsa left Ju- 
gurtha as Regent and guardian of his two young sons. 

§ 6. It is possible that if the two Princes had submitted pas- 
sively, Jugurtha might have been contented with the substance 
without the title of sovereignty ; but Hiempsal showed a spirit 
impatient of control. When Jugurtha proposed that the decrees 
made by Micipsa in the last five years of his dotage should be 
abrogated, the young Prince gave a ready assent ; " for," said he, 
" with these will fall the ordinance by which you claim the 
Regency." The unscrupulous Jugurtha ordered Hiempsal to be 
assassinated ; and Adherbal, in alarm, took up arms. The people 
were with him, but the soldiery Avere with Jugurtha ; and Ad- 
herbal was obliged to fly into the Roman province of Libya, 
whence. he took ship to plead his own cause before the Senate. 
General feeling was strong in his favour ; but the wily Jugurtha 
bethought him of the advice tendered by his Roman friends, and 
sent envoys to Rome laden with gold. Adherbal was heard 
with cold attention, while many Senators supported the claim 
of Jugurtha. It was decided that a Commission of Ten should 
be sent to Numidia, with instructions to divide the kingdom be- 
tween Adherbal and his unscrupulous cousin. L. Opimius, a fit 
instrument for such work, was placed at the head of the Com- 
mission. The western half, which had been the patrimony of 



Chap. LIV. JUGURTHA. 549 

Masinissa and supplied the famous Numidian cavalry, was 
assigned to Jugiirtha, The eastern portion, conterminous with 
the Roman Province, and formerly subject to Syphax, was given 
to Adherbal, 

§ 7. Jugurtha was not slow in using his advantage. His rival 
was obliged to shut himself up in Cirta, the almost impregnable 
city which formed his capital ; but the Italian mercenaries, on 
whom he mainly relied, forced him to surrender on condition 
that his life should be spared. No sooner had Jugurtha got 
possession of his cousin, than he ordered him to be put to death 
by torture. 

§ 8. So great was the power of Jugurtha's gold, that the 
matter would have been hushed up, had not C. Memmius, Tri- 
bune-elect, come forward in the Forum, and boldly exposed the 
iniquities of Jugurtha. The conscience-stricken majority of the 
Senate shrunk back; war was declared against the faithless 
Numidian Prince, and the command fell by lot to L. Calpurnius 
Bestia, one of the Consuls-elect for the next year (111 B.C.). 

§ 9. The first campaign was conducted with so much remiss- 
ness, that it was universally believed that the commanders had 
received bribes. Memmius promptly brought in a bill, by which 
the Praetor L. Cassius was commissioned to bring Jugurtha to 
Rome under a safe-conduct, in order that he might give evidence 
against the persons accused of corrupt dealings. Jugurtha did 
not hesitate to attend Cassius to Rome, where he appeared in 
the garb of a suppliant. The People w^ould have executed sum- 
mary vengeance on the culprit, had not Memmius interfered to 
maintain the sanctity of the safe-conduct. But he ordered 
Jugurtha to stand forth, detailed at length the crimes with 
which he was charged, and concluded by urging him to place 
his hopes of safety in a simple confession of the truth. When 
Memmius resumed his seat, one of his colleagues, C. Bsebius by 
name, rose and forbade Jugurtha to reply. It was manifest that 
this Tribunician veto had been purchased by African gold, and 
a terrible storm arose in the Forum. But Baebius stood firm, 
and the sanctity of his office was allowed to protect his un- 
worthy client. 

§ 10. But it was found impossible ^o obtain the votes of the 
People to any peace with Jugurtha, and the conduct of the war 
for the next year (110 b.c.) was allotted to Sp. Posthumius Albi- 
nus. Albinus had already entered into negotiations with Mas- 
siva, son of Golossa, the third son of Masinissa. Jugurtha dis- 
covered the intrigue, and procured the assassination of the 
young Prince. This piece of eflirontery was too much even for 
the Senate. Jugurtha received an order to quit Rome instantly. 



55(> CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

He obeyed ; and as lie passed out of the gates, he looked back 
and said : " A city for sale if she can find a purchaser !" 

§ 11. Albinus was baffled at every point by the dexterous 
African. His brother Aulus suffered himself to be surprised by 
Jugurtha, and only saved his army by allowing it to pass under 
the yoke and agreeing to evacuate Numidia. But the Senate 
hastily repudiated the engagements made by Aulus, and the 
command for the next year (109 b.c.) was conferred upon Q. 
Metellus, nephew of old Macedonicus. 

§ 12. It was time for the Senate to show that they had upright 
and capable men in their ranks. The scandal caused by the 
conduct of Numidian affairs was so great, that before the 
departure of Metellus, C. Mamilius, Tribune of the People, 
brought forward a bill for appointing a Commission of Three, 
to inquire into the conduct of all who had been concerned in the 
two last campaigns. Scaurus was placed at the head of this 
Triumvirate. Several of the leading Senators were found guilty 
of high treason, and put to death without mercy. Among them 
were Bestia and Albinus, the two Consuls who had conducted 
the war, and one whose fate can excite no commiseration, — the 
cruel and corrupt L. Opimius. 

§ 13. Metellus was obliged to devote much time to restoring 
habits of discipline by the same severe methods which had been 
employed by Scipio. In this work he was much assisted by his 
chief lieutenant, a man who soon after became famous wherever 
the name of Rome was known. 

Caius Marius had already reached the age of fifty. He was a 
citizen of Arpinum, a Volscian town, which had been incorpo- 
rated into the Roman Tribes. His family was old and respect- 
able, but he was the first who obtained imperial honours. In 
his rustic origin and habits he may be compared to Cato ; but 
he had none of the intellectual ambition which distinguished 
that singular person. - He scorned the custom which led young 
Romans to study Greek and cultivate the art of rhetoric as the 
readiest way of rising to honours. " Greek," he said, " was the 
language of slaves : he would none of it." His rough temper 
and coarse manners unfitted him for political life. For war he 
possessed an instinctive genius. At twenty-four he had been 
designated by Scipio as the future general of Rome.* But the 
predominance of the Senatorial families, and his own poverty, 
made it difficult for him to rise. In 119 B.C., when he was 
thirty-eight years old, he was chosen Tribune, and had an oppor- 
tunity of showing his audacity. He had brought forward a l^ill 

* Chapt. lii. § 5. 



Chap. LIV. JUGURTHA. 55 j 

for taking the votes more easily in the Centuriate elections, 
which was opposed by the Consul Metellus, elder brother of that 
Metellus who now commanded against Jugurtha. The family of 
Marius Avas dependent upon the Metelli ; but the dauntless Tri- 
bune ordered the Consul into custody, and the Senate was com- 
pelled to allow the bill to pass. 

To choose such a man for his lieutenant is a proof of the 
integrity and the discernment of Metellus. It is true that he 
had lately allied himself to the oligarchy by a marriage with 
Julia, an aunt of the great Caesar. But the affront put upon 
the Consul's brother by Marius ten years before, was not of a 
kind to be forgotten ; and the proud noble can have had little 
in common Avith the rough soldier, except determination to con- 
duct the war with honest energy. 

§ 14. Late in the year Metellus took the field. The ready wit 
of Jugurtha soon told him that he must now meet force by force, 
and by a skilful disposition of his troops he succeeded in sur- 
prising the Komans on their march. But after a long and harass- 
ing series of assaults, the Numidians were beaten off, and left 
forty elephants dead. This was the only engagement like a battle 
on which Jugurtha ventured during the war. He henceforth 
relied entirely upon his fortresses, of which. Cirta, his capital, now 
well known as Constantine, in Algeria, was among the strongest. 
The advance of Metellus was checked by the fortress of Zama, 
The season was too far advanced for a siege, and Metellus retired 
for winter-quarters into the Roman Province. 

§ 15. Jugurtha saw that his cause was hopeless. Personally 
he might long elude capture. But the Romans were sure to gain 
possession of all his kingdom and all his strongholds, and he 
would be reduced to the condition of a homeless wanderer. He 
therefore offered to treat ; and Metellus, though his term of 
command had been prolonged to another year, was not unwilling 
to listen to overtures. He demanded that the Prince should 
give pledges of good faith, by paying down 200,000 pounds of 
silver, by giving up all his elephants and a quantity of horses, 
and by surrendering all deserters. These demands were com- 
plied with, and then Metellus required th« surrender of Jugur- 
tha's own person. It was evident that the worst defeat could 
hardly reduce him to greater extremities. He at once put aside 
counsels of peace, and disappeared from sight. 

§ 16. Meanwhile the conduct of Marius began to excite dis- 
trust in the mind of the general. When he named the rude 
soldier his lieutenant, he expected doubtless that the honour of 
serving under a Metellus would be honour sufficient. But the 
military talents of Marius had become manifest, and he had be- 



552 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

come a favourite with tlie soldiery. " If lie had half the army," 
he used to say, "he would soon send Jugurtha in chains to 
Rome." He gave out that he meant to offer himself as candi- 
date for the Consulship, and requested leave of absence as soon 
as he could be spared. " It will be time for you to seek the 
Consulship," sajd Metellus, " when my son (a youth of twenty 
years old) can be your colleague :" — ungenerous words, that 
rankled for ever in the heart of Marius. 

The next year's campaign had begun before Marius obtained 
leave to repair to Rome. The elections were to come on in 
twelve days. In less than a week he reached Rome, and there 
he used the same language which the camp had been accustomed 
to hear : " Make me Consul, and you shall soon have Jugurtha, 
dead or alive, at Rome." He was elected by an overpowering- 
majority. The death of Gracchus had been avenged. The 
people exulted in raising to the chief magistracy one whose chief 
claim was that he was a New Man and the best soldier of Rome. 

§ 1*7. The second campaign of Metellus was conducted with 
vigour. Marius being absent, it was manifest that the general 
was not wholly indebted to his lieutenant. Cirta surrendered. 
Jugurtha, afraid of the treachery of his friends, put confidence 
in none, changed his quarters daily, and suffered no one to know 
where he was to pass the next night. At length he fled to the 
Court of Bocchus, king of Mauritania, whose daughter he had 
married. It was not long before Metellus heard that Bocchus 
was advancing with a large army to Cirta, and he prepared to 
meet this new enemy. At this crisis he received the unwelcome 
news that Marius was on his way to supersede him. 

§ 18. After the election of the popular favourite, the Senate had 
decreed that Metellus should continue in command till the Ju- 
gurthan War was ended. But the Tribune Mancinus, encouraged 
by the success of his predecessors Memmius and Mamilius, moved 
in the Assembly of the Tribes that the command should be 
transferred to Marius ; and the measure passed by acclamation. 

Marius immediately set about his preparations. He harangued 
the People with expressions of vehement scorn against all the 
Senatorial commanders, " men of old pedigree, but ignorant of 
war ; who never saw an army till they became generals, and then 
set about studying Greek books of tactics.* He was a New Man ; 
he had no images to show ; lie knew no Greek, and was unfit to 
figure at the banquets of the great ; he did not esteem a stage- 
player or a cook better men than an honest yeoman : but he 
had images of his own, — spears, trappings, standards, prizes won 
by valour, and scars upon his breast." 

* " Praeposteri homines." Sallust, Bell. Jug. 85. 



c'hap. LIV. JUGURTHA. 553 

He did not, nowevcr, confine himself to words. Thougli lie 
had spoken of only needing half the army of Metellus, he made 
levies on a large scale ; and here he introduced an innovation 
-which demands special notice. In early times military service 
was confined to those citizens who had a considerable stake in 
the country. Only those who were worth 4000 pounds of copper 
were allowed to enlist. After the Punic AVar the area of service 
had been extended by Flamininus. Marius now enlisted even 
those who were entered on the Censor's register as possessing no 
appreciable amount of property.* Marius shipped the infantry 
which he had levied at once for Africa, leaving his Quaestor, L. 
Cornelius Sylla,f to follow with the cavalry. 

§ 19. Metellus shed tears of vexation when he heard that he 
was to lose the prize ; and not choosing to undergo the humilia- 
tion of surrendering his command to his late lieutenant, he took 
ship for Rome. Here he was well received. It could not be 
conce^d that Jugurtha was a fugitive, discrowned and landless, 
and that the war was virtually ended. Metellus without arro- 
gance assumed the title of Numidicus. Sallust, a bitter enemy 
to the aristocracy, allows that he was regarded with equal favour 
both by Senate and People. 

§ 20. On the approach of Marius, Bocchus retired into his own 
country. The chief difficulty now remaining was to get posses- 
sion of the person of Jugurtha. Marius was no adept in diplo- 
matic arts, and probably would have begun a war with the Mauri- 
tanians. But he had with him one who was second to none in 
these arts. 

L. Cornelius Sylla had just arrived with the cavalry. This 
person was now thirty-one years old, twenty years younger than 
the general. His family, though a branch of the great Cornelian 
Gens, had remained without honours since the days of P. Rufinus, 
who had been ejected from the Senate by the stern Curius Den- 
tatus for possessing more than ten ounces of silver plate. Sylla 
had inherited little from his father, and was reduced to take a 
mean lodging in the same house with a poor freedman, who 
in his greatness reminded him of the fact. He made himself 
master of the Greek literature of the day, and in early years 
imbibed a taste for dramatic art. His habits were dissolute, as 
his appearance testified. His complexion, naturally fair, became 
pallid and blotched; but his bright blue eyes showed the 
vigorous spirit within. When he rode into the camp of Marius 
he had seen no active service, and the stern Consul looked with 

* The Capite Censi. \ More correctly ■written Sulla. But we retain 
tha form sanctioned by long usage. 

24 



554 CIVIL WARS : FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

contempt on the effeminate debauchee whom lot had assigned 
him as a Quaestor. But with happy versatility Sylla adapted 
himself to the rough manners of the general, and entered with 
ready zest into the joviality of the soldiery. His aptitude for 
business was such, that before the end of the campaign he was 
the chief adviser of Marius. 

§ 21. As the army was retiring to winter at Cirta it was sud- 
denly assaulted by Bocchus and his Moors. The enemy were 
beaten off, but by a rapid side march they reached Cirta before 
Marius. A severe conflict followed, in which the Moors were at 
length defeated with horrible carnage. Bocchus now began to 
fear that the next spring might witness an invasion of his own 
country, and the winter passed in negotiation. Sylla was sent 
to the Moorish capital, but even his dexterity was baffled by 
the arts of Jugurtha, and he returned without result. In a 
short time, however, Bocchus repented, and requested that Sylla 
might be sent back again. But the monarch still hesitated. 
After a long delay, Bocchus sent for Sylla privately by night, 
and proposed to banish Jugurtha from his kingdom. Sylla 
replied that he was obliged to insist upon the surrender of Ju- 
gurtha's person. Bocchus still hesitated. It is said that he 
doubted whether he should give up Jugurtha to Sylla, or Sylla 
to Jugurtha. But the address of the Roman envoy prevailed, 
and he did not depart from the King's presence till he had re- 
ceived promises of all that he asked. 

Next morning, however, the doubts of Bocchus returned. For 
several days he held secret interviews alternately with Sylla and 
with the envoy of Jugurtha, giving both of them to understand 
that he was on their side. But it was necessary for the wavering 
monarch to choose his part, and fear of Rome prevailed. He 
bade Jugurtha appear at a specified time and place ; and the 
Prince came, expecting to triumph. But his retinue was sur- 
rounded and cut down, his own person secured, and given over 
to the Roman envoy. Sylla, relieved from the painful anxiety 
of many days, returned triumphantly to Marius. 

Sylla was not of a temper to waive any claims of his own in 
favour of his general. He openly asserted that he was the real 
conqueror of Jugurtha, and had a signet-ring cut bearing a repre- 
sentation of the surrender of Jugurtha. The friends of Metellus 
encouraged this claim ; but the soldiery and the people regarded 
Marius as the conqueror, and none could deny that he was the 
greatest general of the day. 

§ 22, it was on the Calends of January 104 B.C. that Marius 
entered -Rome in triumphal procession, and passed before the 
gazing crowd to deposite in the Capitol the large booty \5rhich he 



Chap. LIV. JUGURTHA. 555 

had taken. On the same day he entered upon his second Con- 
sulate. His reelection Avas against the law, both because he was 
absent at the time of his election, and because less than two years 
had passed since the termination of his first Consulship, The 
circumstances which justified this double suspension of the law 
will be given in the next chapter, 

§ 23. Jugurtha was treated in a manner that excites compas- 
sion for one who little deserves such feelings. When he walked 
before the triumphal car of Marius he seemed sunk in stupor, 
from which he was roused by the brutal mob tearing off his 
clothes, and plucking the gold rings by force out of his ears. He 
was then thrust naked into the state-dungeon at the foot of the 
Capitoline. " Hercules," he cried, " what a cold bath this is !" 
Here he was left to starve for six days, when death came to his 
relief. His kingdom was given to a rival prince of the line of 
Masinissa. 




Caius Marius. 



CHAPTER LV. 

THE CIMBEIANS AND TEUTONS (105 101 B.C.) : SECOND SLAVE- 
WAR IN ITALY (103 101 B.C.). 

§ 1. First appearance of the Cimbrians and Teutons. § 2. Defeat of three 
Roman armies. § 3. (Jreat defeat of Mallius and Caepio on the Rhone : 
Cimbrians push onward into Spain. § 4. Marius appointed to the com- 
mand : his stern discipline. § 5. Third and fourth Consulships of Marius : 
CatuluB his colleague in the last. § 6. Return of the Cimbrians from Spain : 
the Teutons also appear in Gaul, but turn eastward towards Switzerland. 
§ Y. Marius on the Rhone : first battle of Aix. § 8. Second battle : anni- 
hilation of the Teutons. § 9. Fith Consulship of Marius. § 10. Catu- 
lus Proconsul: driven back from the Adige by the Teutons. §11. 
Catulus joined by Marius : they meet the Teutons near VerceUae. § 12. 
Battle of VerceUae : annihilation of the Teutons. § 13. Triumph of Marius 
and Catulus. § 14. Second Slave War in Sicily : its origin : Salvius in 
the East. § 15. Athenio in the East. § 16. Salvius assumes the title of 
King and the name of Tryphon : Athenio submits. § 17. L. Lucullus, his 
little success : M'Aquillius ends the war. § 18. Strict measures to 
prevent futm-e risings. 

§ 1. JuGtJRTHA had been taken prisoner early in 106 b.c., but 
Marius remained in Africa till the close of the next year. In the 
course of this year and a half happened the events which justi- 
fied the election of Marius to his second Consulship. 

It has been noticed in the preceding chapter that Roman 
conquest on the Rhone had been checked by the irruption of 
barbarians from the North. It was a few years before the out- 



Chap. LV. THE CIMBRIANS AND TEUTONS. 557 

break of the Jugurthan war that vast hordes from the North 
of Europe, impelled probably by want, appeared on the north- 
eastern frontier of Gaul. The chief names by which these bar- 
barians were known were those of Cimbrians and Teutons. It 
cannot be ascertained who or what they were. Probably the 
Teutons were an association of German tribes under one common 
name. The Cimbrians must have been of Celtic origin, though 
with much Teutonic admixture. Their numbers were large ; 
the fighting men are said to have numbered 300,000. The Cim- 
brians led the way ; many smaller tribes followed or joined them, 
as the Ambrons from Germany, the Tectosages from the south- 
west of Gaul, the Tigurinps from the north and west of Switzer- 
land. 

§ 2. It was in the year 113 b.c. that the Eomans first came in 
contact with a host of Cimbrians on the northern frontier of 
Istria, and suflered a great defeat. But the main body pressed 
westward and crossed the Rhine at the crisis Avhen war was 
declared against Jugurtha (ill b.c). At that time they con- 
tented themselves with ravaging Gaul. Two years later they 
appeared on the frontier of the Transalpine Province, and de- 
manded a gift of land. The Consul Silanus, colleague of Metellus, 
replied by giving them battle ; but he also was defeated. In 
107 B.C. the Tigurines pressed down the Rhone from their Swiss 
valleys, and were met by the Consul L. Cassius Longinus, col- 
league of Marius. The Helvetian Tribe shunned the conflict; 
but Cassius pursued them, and as he was incautiously advancing, 
he fell into an ambuscade. Great part of his army was slain, 
himself among the number; the rest were made to pass under 
the yoke. 

§ 3. While Marius was still detained in Africa after the cap- 
ture of Jugurtha, still worse tidings reached Rome. The suc- 
cessive defeats just noticed had thoroughly alarmed the Senate, 
and large levies had been made for the year 105 b.c. Q. Ser- 
vilius Csepio, the Consul of that year, had held command on the 
Rhone, and gained an evil reputation by the sack of Tolosa (Tou- 
louse), the chief city of the Tectosages, which he had assailed 
without provocation. So great was the plunder he took, that 
"Toulouse gold" became a proverbial expression for ill-gotten 
gains. He was, however, high in the favour of the Senate, and 
he was continued in command as Proconsul ; but the chief com- 
mand (in 104 B.C.) fell to the new Consul, Cn. Mallius, a man 
only distinguished for his want of capacity. "When he arrived 
in the Province, Caspio scornfully refused to join him, till he 
crossed the Rhone, and was threatened by the barbarians. On 
hearing of the danger of the Consul, Csepio also crossed the 



558 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

river, but still endeavoured to maintain a separate conamand. 
During tliese bickerings the armies of Mallius and Csepio were 
surprised and utterly destroyed ; they lost no fewer than 80,000 
soldiers and 40,000 camp-followers. This bloody defeat, the 
most serious that Rome had sustained since the day of Cannae, 
took place on the 6th of October, which was marked as a black 
day in the calendar. 

: § 4. After this great victory, the barbarians, instead of pouring 
at once into Italy, turned southwards, and — a great portion of 
them at least — passed over the Pyrenees into Spain. Thus Italy 
was relieved from immediate fear ; and Marius, now Consul for 
the second time, put forth all his energy in organising a fresh 
army. The greater part of his troops must have been fur- 
nished by the lowest class of citizens, and the disorderly re- 
cruits murmured at the requirements of the Consul. His 
sternness repelled them, his arbitrary habits offended, and those 
who submitted patiently were called " the mules of Marius." 
Sylla, who, notwithstanding the jealousy of the General, had 
taken service under him as Legate, was of use m smoothing 
difficulties. The murmurs soon abated, and the nickname became 
a name of honour. The confidence felt by the old soldiers in the 
General exteilded itself to the new levies. It was found that, if 
he was inflexibly severe, he was no less inflexibly just, — the 
highest and the lowest received the same measure. His own 
nephew ofi"ered a brutal insult to a young soldier named Tre- 
bonius, who resented it by slaying his officer on the spot. 
Marius brought the youth to trial ; but when he heard his story 
proved by evidence, he not only directed an acquittal, but placed 
a crown upon the youth's head as a reward for his Roman virtue. 
§ 5. For the next year Marius was elected Consul for the third 
time, and in the following year for the fourth time. His col- 
league was now Q. Lutatius Catulus, one of the most distinguished 
members of the aristocracy, who had hitherto been an unsuc- 
cessful candidate for the Consulship. In the three foregoing 
years he had been defeated by persons unworthy to be put in 
comparison with Catulus, whose character stood so high that it 
was usual to quote his mere word as sufficient authority for a 
fact : " It must be so, for Q. Lutatius has said it."* In personal 
integrity Marius was his equal, but in other respects they formed 
a marked contrast. Marius rough and stern, without education, 
scorning accomplishments, but the best general of the day; 
Catulus, polished in manner, well-informed and witty, the most 
finished orator of his time,f but untried in war. 

* " Hoc verum est ; dixit enim Q. Lutatius." — Cicero de Oratore, ii. 40. 
t " Oratio ejus pura sic ut Latine loqui psene solus videretur." — Ibid iii. 8. 



Chap.lv. the CIMBRIANS and teutons. 559 

§ 6. Soon after the election news arrived tliat the dreaded hour 
was really at hand : the Cirabrians had been repulsed by the 
Celtiberians, and had recrossed the Pyrenees. The Teutons, 
whose name now first appears in the narrative, had by this 
time entered Gaul from the north-east, and the combined 
hordes were gathering on the frontier of the Gallic Province. 
Marius left Rome in haste and crossed the Alps ; the remainder 
of the year he spent in fortifying a strong camp on the right 
bank of the Rhone, somewhere between Nismes and Aries. To 
secure ready access to the sea, he employed his men in cutting a 
canal from the rear of his camp to the coast, which long remained 
open, and was known as the Foss of Marius. 

It was soon found that the barbarian hordes had again sepa- 
rated. The Teutons, with the Ambrons, remained in Gaul to 
attack the Roman Province and enter Italy by the Maritime 
Alps, while the Cmibrians passed up the Rhone and made a long, 
circuit so as to threaten Italy from the north. Marius remained 
in Gaul to arrest the Teutons ; Catulus, with a second Consular 
army, was ordered to the plains of Lombardy, there to await the 
Cimbrians. 

Marius was exposed to the first assault. Early in the year 
102 B.C. the plain in front of his camp was covered by Teutons, 
who challenged him with hideous cries to come forth ; and his 
men indignantly asked whether their only task was to be that of 
digging and delving like slaves. But Marius turned a deaf ear 
both to the provocations of the barbarians and the murmurs of 
his own troops. " We have to fight," he said, " not for trophies 
but for existence ; we will not give battle till victory is secure." 
This backwardness was in part due to a superstitious regard 
for divination. As Wallenstein consulted the stars through his 
astrologer, so the grim Roman carried about with him a Syrian 
woman named Martha, in whose predictions he placed unbounded 
confidence. 

§ Y. The Teutons, finding their challenges vain, attempted to 
storm the Roman camp, but were driven off with great loss. On 
this, they marched eastward past the lines. For six days the 
barbarians were defiling before the eyes of the Italian soldiery, 
scoffingly asking whether they could not carry some message 
home for them to their wives. As soon as their vast host had 
crossed the Rhone, Marius followed them leisurely along the 
Aurelian road, till he came up with the Ambrons near Aquae 
Sextise. While the soldiers set to work to entrench the camp, 
the camp-followei's went down with the beasts to seek water, 
and found the Ambrons Avere luxuriantly bathing in the hot 
springs which gave name to the place. As soon as they saw 



560 CIYIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

the Romans they seized their arms, shouting the name of their 
own tribe as a war-cry. There was in the Roman advanced 
guard a Ligurian Tribe bearing a similar name, who returned the 
cry, and rushed into the stream, Marius, unable to restrain 
them, drew out the remainder of his army, and the conflict 
became general. After a severe struggle the Ambrons were 
driven back to their camp, where their women came out and fell 
upon fugitives and Romans alike with indiscriminate violence. 
Darkness stopped the battle, and the Romans drew back to their 
unfortified camp, where they passed the night under arms, listen- 
ing to the wild and uncouth wailings with which the Ambrons 
lamented their dead. No attempt was made to renew the battle 
the next day, but Marius silently prepared for a decisive action 
on the morrow. 

§ 8. The Teutons had in the mean time returned to support 
their comrades ; and when the sun rose, the whole mass of the 
barbarians stood upon the plain in front of the eminence where 
the Romans lay encamped. During the night Marius had sent 
3000 men, to form an ambush in the rear of the enemy ; and 
having drawn out his legions on the sloping ground before his 
camp, he there awaited the attack. The barbarians charged 
up the slope with furious cries. The Romans awaited their 
assault steadily, till they were within spear's throw ; and then, 
having discharged their heavy javelins with terrible effect, they 
drew their swords and fell upon the broken ranks of the enemy. 
The barbarians were driven back across the plain, and at the 
moment when they were attempting to rally, Marcellus, issuing 
from the wood, fell upon their rear. A dreadful massacre fol- 
lowed. So numerous were the slain, that in after-years the 
people of Marseilles used the bones to make fences for their 
vineyards, and the whole plain was fertilised by putrescent 
bodies. The Teutonic host was annihilated , and, on the western 
side, Italy was saved by the battle of Aix. 

§ 9. Teubocchus, the gigantic Chieftain of the Teutons, accus- 
tomed (as tales ran) to ride four or six horses at once, was 
reserved to grace the Triumph. The broken arms and equipages 
were piled in a huge heap, and Marius himself, waving-a chaplet 
and with his gown girded after the Gabine fashion, was advancing 
to fire it, when some horsemen Avere seen galloping along the 
road from Italy. He paused : leaping from their horses, they 
saluted him as Consul for the fifth time. 

§ 10. During the whole year the Cimbrians had not made their 
appearance, but towards the close of the season it was ascertained 
that they had reached the Tyrol, and might be expected to de- 
scend into Italy next spring by the valley of the Athesis (Adige). 



Chap. LY. THE CIMBRIANS AND TEUTONS. " 561 

Catulus, who remained in command for a second year as Pro- 
consul, concentrated his forces on that river. His camp, strongly 
fortified, was on the right or western bank ; a bridge Avas thrown 
across the stream, defended by a similar camp or tete-du-pont. 

The barbarians did not Avait for the melting of the snows, 
Early in the next year (101 b.c.) they poured down the Pass of the 
Brenner, sliding exultingly down the frozen slopes upon their 
shields. Keeping the left bank of the Adige, they made their 
way to the point where Catulus Avas stationed. The Roman 
soldiers, unaccustomed to the aspect of the barbarians, could 
not be prcA^ented from deserting the camp in precipitate flight. 
Happily, the division which Avas stationed on the left bank de- 
fended their post gallantly and prevented the Cimbrians from 
crossing the bridge in pursuit. 

§ 11. Marius had returned to Eome at the close of the previous 
campaign, Avhere he was received as became the Conqueror of 
the Teutons, but generously declined the honour of a Triumph, 
till he could share it with Catulus. As soon as he heard of the 
descent of the Cimbrians, he set off for the Proconsul's camp, 
having previously ordered his lieutenants to bring his victorious 
army from Gaul into Italy. Catulus had succeeded in rallying 
his troops, and was posted on the south bank of the Po, probably 
near Placentia. The army Avhich Marius brought to his aid 
amounted to more than 30,000 men ; that of Catulus Avas reduced 
to little more than 20,000. The energy of Sylla had provided 
well for supplies of provisions and forage, and Marius Avas obliged 
to own himself indebted to an oflScer Avho had unceasingly pro- 
voked his jealousy. 

Between the two Commanders the best feeling subsisted. The 
Cimbrians had pushed westAvard in the hope of meeting their 
friends the Teutons, of Avhose destruction they had not heard. 
Marias and Catulus, crossing the Po above the Ticinus, ofl'ered 
battle. The Cimbrians answered by sending envoys to demand 
that, Avhen their brethren reached Italy, the Romans should give 
them lands. " Your brethren," replied Marius, " have already 
as much land as they are like to need ;" and he sent back some 
Teuton prisoners, who sufBciently explained the meaning of his 
words. Boiorix, the Cimbrian Chief, nothing daunted, rode up 
to the Roman lines, and challenged the Generals to fix the day 
and place for a pitched battle. " The Romans," retorted Marius, 
" are not wont to consult the enemy on such points. However, 
we will humour you. Let the day be the third day hence ; the 
place the plain of Vercellse." 

§ 12. Here the battle was fought. Catulus commanded the 
centre ; the troops of the Consul Marius, in two divisions, flanked 
24* 



^62 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

ihim on tlae riglit and left. The Cimbrian host advanced in one 
dense column, their front ranks being linked together by chains 
passed through their belts. This great phalanx was supported 
by 15,000 horsemen, armed like Germans, with helmets made of 
the heads of wild beasts, surmounted by tall plumes. The com- 
bat took place on the 30th day of July ; and the intense heat, to- 
gether with the dust, impaired the vigour of these northern men. 
The compact ranks of the enemy, broken by the fire of the terrible 
pila, and charged by the whole Roman line, were driven back to 
their camp in disorder, and there received by their own wives as 
if they had been enemies. A scene of frightful carnage followed. 
The women alone, from the high waggons which formed the 
defence of the camp, continued to resist ; till, not choosing to 
become slaves, they strangled their children, and sought a volun- 
tary death either by the hands of friends or by nooses twisted 
of their own hair. The annihilation of the Cimbrian host at 
Vercellae was as complete as that of the Teutons at Aquaj Sextise. 
§ 13. Both Marius and Catulus had done their duty in this 
bloody conflict. Plutarch, indeed, attributes the victory wholly 
to Catulus. But the accounts of Plutarch are borrowed from 
the annals of Sylla, a suspicious authority for estimating the 
merits of Marius. At Rome, all the credit of the Cimbrian, 
as well as of the Teutonic, victory was given to Marius. He was 
saluted, with Romulus and Camillus, as the third Founder of 
Rome. The people loudly expressed their wish that he should 
triumph alone. But Marius, respecting the feelings of the sol- 
diers, and not- devoid of a rough generosity, declared that his 
noble colleague must share the honour. The opinion of the day 
was ratified by posterity. Cicero speaks of the Triumph as due 
to Marius ;* and Juvenal in a well-known line sums up the tra- 
ditional faith of a later generation.f There can be no doubt 
that Marius well deserved all his honours. By these great vic- 
tories he rolled back the tide of Northern immigration for at least 
three centuries. The battles of Aix and Vercellse may be ranked 
in the number of those which changed the course of the World's 
History. 

§ 14. "While the arms of the Republic were thus triumphant 
in averting external peril, the fertile Province of Sicily was again 
a prey to the desolating horrors of a Slave War. 

* " TJtrum tandem beatior. C. Marius turn, qmim Cimbricse victoriae 
gloriam eum coUega Catulo communicavit, — p£ene altero Lselio, an . . . etc." 
— Tuscul. QucBst. V. 1 9. The comparison of Catulus with Lselius implies 
that of Marius with Seipio. 

f ^' Nobilis ornatur lauro CoUega secunda." — Sat. viii. 253. 



Ckaf. LV. the CIMBRIANS and teutons. 563 

After the former war had been happily concluded by Piso and 
Rupilius, several indications of similar troubles appeared in 
Italy itself. At Capua, a spendthrift Knight armed 4000 slaves 
and assumed the diadem. But by prompt measures the insur- 
rection was put down. 

The rising in Sicily might have been checked with no less ease. 
It originated thus. Marius had been commissioned by the Senate 
to raise troops in foreign countries to meet the difficulties of the 
Cimbrian war. He applied to the King of Bithynia, among 
other persons ; but the King answered that he had no soldiers, 
the Eoman Tax-gatherers had made slaves of them all. The 
Senate, glad to have an opportunity of censuring the Equites, 
passed a Decree that all persons unduly detained in slavery 
should be set free. In Sicily the number of such persons was so 
large that the Praetor suspended the execution of the Decree. 
Great disappointment followed. A body of slaves rose in insur- 
rection near Agrigentum, and beat off the Praetor. Their num- 
bers swelled to 20,000, and they chose one Salvius, a soothsayer, 
to be their king. This man showed himself fit to command. 
He divided his followers into three bodies, regularly officered. 
He enforced strict discipline. To restrain his men from wine 
and debauchery, he kept them in the field. He contrived to 
provide 2000 with horses. When his men seemed sufficiently 
trained, he laid siege to the city of Murgantia. But the slave- 
masters of Murgantia offered freedom to all slaves who would 
remain faithful, and Salvius saw himself compelled to retire. 
The promise, however, was not kept, and numbers of the 
deceived men flocked to the insurgent camp. 

§ 15. This success in the East of Sicily gave birth to a similar 
rising in the West, which was headed by a Cilician slave named 
Athenio, who pretended to read the future in the stars. He 
soon found himself at the head of 10,000 soldiers, well found 
Avith arms and provisions. He gave out that the stars declared 
his sovereignty : he therefore forbade all robbery ; for, said he, 
" the property of our masters is now ours." He now rashly laid 
siege to the impregnable fortress of Lilybseum ; but finding its 
capture impossible, he drew off", alleging that an impending- 
danger had been revealed to him. 

§ 16. Meanwhile Salvius, who had assumed the name of Try- 
phon, fixed the seat of his sovereignty at the fortress of Trio- 
cala, which had fallen into his hands, and sent orders to Athenio 
to repair in person to that place. Athenio obeyed the orders 
of King Tryphon, and appeared at Triocala with 3000 men. The 
King now occupied himself with adding to the strength of his 
new capital. He chose a Senate out of his followers. On public 



564 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

occasions lie wore the Toga Prsetexta of a Roman Magistrate, 
and was attended by tlie due number of Lictors. 

§ 17. The Romans seemed unable to make head against the 
insurgents, till, in 101 B.C., M' Aquillius, the colleague of Marius 
in his fifth Consulship, took the command. Meanwhile, Try- 
phon had died, and Athenio had become chief of the insur- 
gents. Aquillius brought them to an engagement, in which 
he encountered the brave Athenio hand to hand. The Consul 
was severely wounded, but the slave leader was killed. Aquillius 
remained as Proconsul in Sicily for another year, in the course 
of which time he crushed the last embers of the war. After 
the fall of Athenio, the insurgents dwindled away to a band of 
1000 desperate men commanded by one Satyrus, who at length 

■ surrendered to Aquillius, and were by him sent to Rome to serve 
as gladiators. The story of their end is very touching. Being 
brought out into the arena to fight with wild beasts, they slew 
one another at the foot of the altars which stood there ; and 

- Satyrus, being left alone, fell upon his own sword. 

It is manifest, from the humanity and discipline observed by 
these unhappy men in their power, that their chiefs must have 
been originally men of station and education, reduced to slavery 
by the horrid practice of ancient warfare. The story of their 
death presents a picture not flattering to Roman civilisation. 

§ 18. Strict measures were adopted in Sicily to prevent a 
recurrence of these perils. It was made a standing order, con- 
firmed by every successive Praetor, that no slave should have a 
weapon in his possession. Nor Avas the ordinance suff"ered to 
remain a dead letter. Soon after, the Praetor L. Domitius received 
a fine wild boar as a present. He inquired who had killed it. Find- 
ing that it was a slave employed as a shepherd, he summoned the 
man to his presence. The poor fellow came with alacrity, ex- 
pecting a reward. The Prsetor asked him with what he had killed 
the animal ; and finding that it was with a hunting-spear, he 
ordered the unfortunate wretch to be crucified.' Such were the 
laws by which the masters of the world were obliged to maintaiu 
their power. 



CHAPTER LVr. 

FROM THE SIXTH CONSULSHIP OF MARIUS TO THE DEATH OF 
M. LIVIUS DRUSUS. (100 91 B.C.) 

§ 1. Seaurus and the Senate form a middle party. § 2. Practice of young 
orators to indict culprits of high rank : condemnation of Q. Caepio. § 3. 
Caspio had offended the Equites. § 4. Eminent men in the moderate party : 
the two Scaevolas : Crassus and Antonius, the Orators. § 5. Position 

. of Marius : inaptitude for pohtical arts. § 6. Election of Marius to a 
Sixth Consulship, Glaucia to the Prsetorship, Saturninus to the Tribunate. 
§ 7. Agrarian Law of Saturninus : oiath required of Senators. § 8. 
Ti'ick of Marius : banishment of Metellus. § 9. Extension of the Corn- 
law prevented by Cn. Caepio. § 10. Glaucia stands for the Consulship : 
murder of Memmius : Saturninus and his crew outlawed : -their end. 
§ 11. Decline of Marius' power. § 12. Return of Metellus. § 13. 
Visit of Marius to Mithi'idates. § 14. Pi-setorship of Sylla : Sylla sent 
to Cilicia. § 15. Partial verdicts of the Equestrian Juries: cases of 
Aquillius and Rutillus. § 16. Drusus undertakes to deprive the Equites of 
Judicial power, but insists on enfranchising Italians. § 17. Measures of 
Drusus. § 18. His judicial Reform ill received. § 19. Attack of Phi- 
lippus on the Enfranchisement Bill ; death of Crassus. § 20. Assassination 
of Drusus. § 21. Law of Varius : impeachment of Seaurus. 

§ 1. The power of the Nobility, shaken to its centre by the 
Gracchi, was for a time restored by force. But the election of 
Marius to the Consulate was a signal triumph of the popular 
party. Seaurus perceived that the reckless corruption of the 
Oligarchy must end in ruin, and he put himself at the head of 
the moderate party. The Senate was now in their hands. 

§ 2. An indirect check was placed upon public immorality, by 
the increasing love for popular oratory, Avhich followed the 
transference of judicial authority from the Senate to the Eques- 
trian Order. The latter were venal enough, but were yet more 
open to persuasion than the old Senatorial juries, and afforded a 
greater scope to the powers of youthful orators. The examplo 
of Cato and the Gracchi showed how men might rise to emi- 
nence by peaceful arts ; and men even of noble family found a 
ready way to office by impeaching public officers. Q. Csepio 
suffered in this way. This man, as w'e have seen, was gorged 
with the plunder of Toulouse, and by his quarrel with the 
Consul Mallius had at least contributed to the great defeat of 
105 B.C.* On the news of the defeat being received, the Tribes 
^ * Chapt. Iv. § 3. 



566 CIVIL WARS : FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

passed a vote to deprive Csepio of his proconsular command, 
and to confiscate all his goods,— a proceeding unexampled in 
the later annals of the Republic. In the next year, the Tri- 
bunes introduced a law by which it was enacted that any one 
Avho had been so deprived of his command should lose his seat 
in the Senate. 

§ 3. The attainder of Csepio was the greatest advantage which 
we know to have been gained by the popular party at this time. 
It was not solely on the merits of the case that he was so 
promptly judged. He had, in the year before, when he was 
Consul, carried a Centuriate Law — the Servilian Law of Csepio — 
by Avhich the judicial authority was restored to the Senate, and 
had thus provoked the wrath of the Equestrian Order. This 
law, however, did not remain in force many months. It was 
repealed by the Servilian Law of the Tribune C. Glaucia, in the 
same year that Caepio was condemned : and thus one Servilian 
law for 'restoring judgment to the Senate was cancelled by 
another- Servilian law giving it back to the Knights. 

§ 4. Of the moderate party, after Scaurus, none are more 
noticeable than Metellus and Catulus. But the most distin- 
guished for purity of life were the two Scsevolas, the Augur and 
the Pontifex Maximus. Q. Scsevola, the Augur, belonged to a 
former generation. He is chiefly known for his great legal 
knowledge, in which he was the worthy successor of his cousins, 
P. Scsevola and P. Crassus, the friends of Ti. Gracchus.* He 
married Lselia, the daughter of Scipio's friend. In a corrupt age 
he escaped all taint of corruption. 

The fame of Q. Scsevola, the Augur, was sustained by his 
cousin, Q. Scsevola, the Chief Pontiff. He was the son of that 
Scsevola who supported Ti. Gracchus, and was the third of his 
family who had borne the high office of Pontifex Maximus in 
succession. Like the Augur, he preferred the quiet profession 
of a jurist to the exciting conflicts of political life. But when- 
ever he appears in public, he adds honour to the name of his 
family. He ruled Asia Avith singular integrity ; and we shall 
have to notice in a future page the unjust condemnation of his 
Legate, P. Eutilius Rufus, for endeavouring to prevent the ex- 
tortions of the tax-collectors. His memory was long preserved 
by the grateful Asiatics in festal games known by the name of 
Mucia. The disinterested character of the Pontiff is shown by 
an anecdote preserved by Cicero. He had bought an estate 
under its due value ; and though that value had been fixed by 
the vendor, the conscientious purchaser insisted on paying a 

* P. Scsevola, Cons. I'TS B.C., and Q. Scsevola, Cons. l'74,were brothers. 



CuAP. LVI. THE LEADERS OF THE SENATE. 567 

larger price, — an act Avhicli the jurists of the clay considered to 
bo incompatible "with wisdom.* 

Here also niay be noticed the two great Advocates of the day, 
M. Antonius and L. Licinius Crassus, each known by the name 
of '' the Orator." At Rome, in those days, a great Advocate 
could hardly avoid taking part in politics, for all celebrated 
causes were of a political nature. At Rome, advocacy was not 
so much a profession as a duty of private or political friendship. 
Both Crassus and Antonius generally appear as the defenders of 
Senators before the Equestrian Tribunal, and therefore seldom 
met as rivals at the bar. In youth, they both courted popular 
favour : but they soon became steady adherents of the Senatorial 
Order. Crassus married Mucia, daughter of Q. Scsevola the 
Augur, and was the close friend of Q. Scsevola the Pontiff. One 
of his most famous speeches was delivered in favour of the 
Servilian law of Csepio for restoring judicial power to the 
Senators : in the time of Cicero it was regarded as a classical 
composition : '^ it could not," remarks the critic, " be improved 
'except by Crassus himself" The oratory of Crassus was often 
pointed with sarcasm, which made him enemies even in the 
Senate : that of Antonius was more natural and pathetic. Cicero 
is unable to adjudge superiority to either. He introduces the 
two as the chief interlocutors in his celebrated Dialogues on 
the Orator. He exhausts the Latin language in expressing his 
admiration of both. Crassus he held to be the greatest orator 
Rome had ever seen except Antonius, and Antonius the greatest 
except Crassus. The oratory of Antonius, from its pathetic 
character, was more fitted for a Jury ; that of Crassus for a 
deliberative Assembly. In their high finish and elaborate pre- 
paration the orations of Cicero himself may be taken as repre- 
sentations of the style of Crassus rather than of Antonius. 

But these men, though they were upright, grave, and dignified, 
had not energy enough to reform the abuses revealed by the 
Gracchi ; and thus the stage was left open to profligate dema- 
gogues. The removal of external danger by the defeat of the 
barbarians, and the return of Marius to Rome, gave the signal 
for a renewal of internal troubles. 

§ 5. Marius was now the great man of the day. All parties 
were disposed to welcome him. He had conciliated the Senate 
by his bearing towards Catulus : his military glory dazzled the 
multitude ; the saving of Italy won him the regards of all. The 
blunt manners of the man gave no off'ence, nay, rather increased 
his popularity with the multitude. He had become rich ; but to 

* Cicero c?e OJi c. iii. 15. . - :;...-i,,v.; - ,-..,..,.. 



568 CIVIL WARS : FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

gain wealtli lie had used no means that were reprobated by the 
usages of Roman society ; his character for integrity stood high. 
Yet his own nature and long habits of command rendered him 
incapable of using the arts of the Forum. He is not the only 
great General that has quailed before the clamours of a popular 
Assembly : and it was not long before his popularity began to 
decline. 

§ 6. But he could not bear to descend into private life : all 
men were surprised, and moderate men were disgusted, when he 
appeared as candidate for a Sixth Consulship (101 b.c.) There 
was no excuse for any further violation of the law, and it appeared 
that his chance of election was doubtful. But agents were ready 
to assist him ; his money was at their disposal ; troops of dis- 
banded soldiery thronged the streets of Rome. Metellus came 
forward as a candidate, not so much hoping to defeat Marius, 
as to neutralise his power by becoming his colleague. But even 
in this he was disappointed : L. Valerius Flaccus, a feeble noble- 
man, was preferred to the leader of the aristocracy. 

The person who was mainly instrumental in procuring this 
result was L. Apuleius Saturninus, a man of good family, but 
with the habits of a reckless debauchee. Finding himself 
slighted by the Senate, he resolved upon revenge. He possessed 
that kind of eloquence which stirs the populace. What he wanted 
in rank and character he supplied by attaching himself to Marius. 
He found a friend and associate in C. Servilius Glaucia, the same 
who had already foiled the Senate by repealing the judicial law 
of Csepio. This man's character was as bad as that of Saturninus. 
But his ready wit and reckless humour made him a popular 
favourite, and he was elected Praetor of the City at the same 
Comitia which made Marius Consul for the sixth time. Having 
secured the election of these two men, Saturninus now stood 
forward as a candidate for a second Tribunate. 

But a man of spirit, named Nonius, rose in the Assembly, and 
after boldly denouncing the infamous lives of both Glaucia and 
Saturninus, offered himself as a candidate, and was elected 
Tribune to the exclusion of the demagogue. A man so reckless 
as Saturninus was not thus to be defeated. With a party of his 
adherents he set upon Nonius, and murdered him. Glaucia then 
called a partisan meeting early next morning, which he declared 
to be a regular Assembly of the Tribes; and by their votes 
Saturninus was elected Tribune. 

§ Y. Saturninus at once commenced a career which is a sort of 
caricature of the public acts of the Gracchi. He began by intro- 
ducing an iniquitous Agrarian Law, by which it was proposed to 
divide among the soldiers of Marius the lands in Gaul recently 



Chap. LVI. SIXTH CONSULSHIP OF MARIUS. 569 

occupied by tlic Cimbrians ; iniquitous, for these lands were the 
property of tlic Provincials who had been dispossessed by the 
barbarians. He also proposed to found Colonies in various pro- 
vinces, and to employ the " Toulouse gold " of Csepio as Ti. 
Gracchus had employed the gold of Attains. 

For carrying this law Saturninus relied chiefly on the disbanded 
soldiery of Marius and a mob of Latins and Italians. To intimi- 
date the Senate it was provided that, in case the law received the 
assent of the Tribes, every Senator should, within five days, take 
an oath of obedience to its enactments, and that any recusant 
should lose his seat in the Senate and pay a fine of twenty talents 
to the Treasury. 

§ 8. On the day appointed for the vote, the opposite party en- 
deavoured to break up the Assembly by declaring that it was 
thundering. " If you do not take heed," said Saturninus, " it 
will hail also." Stung by his scornful demeanour, the opponents 
of the law girded up their gowns, and drove the adherents of 
Saturninus from the Forum. But the veteran soldiers regained 
possession of the place, and the law passed. On the same day 
Marius, in the Senate-house, declared that to exact a compulsory 
oath was an insult to the Order, and Metellus expressed his 
resolution to stand by the Consul in refusing the oath. But late 
on the afternoon of the fifth day, Avhen the time for taking the 
oath was just expiring, Marius hastily convened the Senate, and 
stated that there was reason to apprehend violence if the oath 
were not taken ; to appease the mob he proposed that all should 
submit to take it ; hereafter it might be declared null, as having 
been taken under compulsion. All saw through this hypocritical 
artifice : but there was no time for debate ; and Marius himself, 
rising from his place, went forth to the front of the Temple of 
Saturn, and there publicly took the oath. The rest of the Senators 
present followed his example, all except Metellus, who declared 
that he would submit to any penalty except dishonour. Next 
day, when the Senate met, Metellus appeared in his place ; and 
Saturninus ordered him to be removed. The other Tribunes 
interposed ; upon which Saturninus rushed forth and harangued 
his partisans, telling them that while Metellus was at Rome they 
would never get their promised lands. He then brought forward 
a Bill to banish Metellus from the soil of Italy. Before the day 
appointed for the vote, the Roman citizens armed themselves 
with daggers, and would have used force against the partisans 
of Saturninus ; but Metellus, with noble patriotism, said that not 
for him should blood be shed, and forthwith quitted the city. 

§ 9. Saturninus next brought in a Bill designed to win the 
favour of the Roman Populace. It was a measure for reducing 



5 70 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

tlie price of grain from 6i ases the modius (the price fixed hy 
C. Gracchus) to 5-6ths of an as.* The Senate were now roused 
to action. The Quaestor of the City, Cn, Csepio, made a report 
that the Treasury could not bear the drain which must follow ; 
and the Senate ordered Saturninus to proceed no further. He 
persisted ; his colleagues interposed their veto ; but Saturninus 
scornfully ordered the ballot-boxes to be brought forward, on 
which Caepio, supported by a strong body of men, broke down 
the gangways and overthrew the ballot-boxes. The violence of 
Saturninus could not be arrested but by violence. 

§ 10. The Tribunician Elections for the next year came on 
before the Consular. Saturninus procured his own reelection ; 
and, as Marius did not seek a seventh Consulship, the Tribune 
used all his power to procure the election of his friend Glaucia to 
this office. But Antonius the Orator and C. Memmius were held 
sure of their election ; and, to prevent this result, Saturninus 
sent a band of ruffians who positively beat Memmius to death in 
the Campus Martins. This brutal act broke up the Assembly. 
The People of the City were wrought up to frenzy, and met 
next day, vowing that they would have the life of Saturninus. 
The Tribune, supported by Glaucia and by Saufeius, one of the 
City Quaestors, assumed an attitude of resistance. The Senate 
met, and Marius offered himself as mediator. But the Senate 
issued a decree which charged the Consuls with dictatorial 
power. Meanwhile the insurgents had seized the Capitol. All 
the chiefs of the Senate appeared in arms to support Marius, 
who became the unwilling leader of his political adversaries. It 
might have been not easy to reduce the insurgents under such a 
commander ; but some persons cut the pipes which supplied the 
quarter with water, and as it thus became impossible for the 
insurgents to hold out, they surrendered in reliance upon the 
good offices of Marius. The citizens would have slain them on 
the spot ; but Marius insisted on a regular trial, and shut them 
up in the Senate-house. The People, however, would not be 
balked of vengeance. Numbei"s of them climbed to the top of 
the building, tore off the tiles, and killed all the prisoners. Thus 
were slain a Prastor, a Quaestor, and a Tribune, all wearing the 
ensigns of office. 

§ 11. The proceedings against Saturninus were the same as 
those adopted against the Gracchi. But this demagogue had 
himself set the example of using force, and his death was due 
to a burst of popular feeling. Marius had lost all influence by 

* The particular change of price was caused probably by a jingle of words. 
By the Apuleian Law corn was to be sold semisse et triente (^-j-J =■!) 
instead of senis et triente (6J), as ruled by the Sempronian Law. . 



Chap. LVI. RECAL OF METELLUS. 67 1 

associating liimself witli sucli men. The Senate and People of 
Rome, who were now allied through fear of the Italians, hated him 
because he had attempted to save Saturninus. He proved as 
feeble a politician as he Avas a bold and skilful commandei". 

§ 12. All orders now desired the rgcal of Metellus, who had 
retired to Rhodes. On the death of Saturninus, it was proposed 
at once to rescind the law by which he was banished ; but one 
of the Tribunes put a veto on the measure. In vain the friends 
and kinsmen of the banished Senator sought to bend this man. 
from his purpose ; in vain young Q. Metellus interceded for his 
father so earnestly that he was known ever after by the name of 
Pius. But at the beginning of the next year (99 B.C.), the law 
for removing the ban from Metellus now passed by acclamation. 
His return was a real triumph. The whole City, Nobles and 
People, met him outside the walls. So many were the greetings 
Avhich he had to receive and give that it was evening before he 
entered the gates. He had been absent about a year. 

§ 13. That was a bitter day for the proud spirit of Marius. He 
left Rome abruptly, and took ship for Asia. The ambassadors 
of Mithridates had been insulted by Saturninus ; but the King 
dissembled all anger, and received the great General with every 
mark of honour. Marius answered the Oriental compliments oP 
Mithridates with rude threats. "King," said he, "you will have 
to conquer Rome or to submit." Plutarch avers that his purpose 
was to drive Mithridates to war, in the hope that he might 
recover in arms that consequence which he had lost in peace. 

§ 14. The popular taste for shows was daily increasing with the 
increasing wealth of the great families who supplied yEdiles to 
the State. Sylla had relapsed into easy self-indulgence after his 
Cimbrian campaigns. But he now appeared as candidate for 
the Praetorship. He had not, however, served as -^dile ; and 
the people expected a magnificent show of beasts from the friend 
of Bocchus. Sylla therefore lost his election. But in 94 b.c. he 
spent large sums in bribery, and promised to exhibit as Praetor 
all that had been expected from him as ^Edile. Accordingly in 
the next year the wondering people saw one hundred lions, the 
gift of the Moorish King, let loose in the Circus. 

After his Praetorship, Sylla was sent by the Senate into Cilicia 
with a commission to watch Mithridates, who had already begun 
military preparations on a large scale. Wherever Marius went, 
it seemed as if he were destined to meet Sylla iii rivalry. 

§ 15, Of all the measures of Gracchus none had left a deeper 
sore than that which transferred the judicial power from the 
Senators to the Equestrian Order, Q. Csepio's attempt to re- 
verse this measure had succeeded only for a moment : disap^ 



572 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VL 

pointment aggravated the soreness of the Senate. But thougli 
popular feeling was in favour of the Equestrian rather than the 
Senatorial juries, yet the Knights, as has before been noted, had 
their own motives for corrupt judgment. As Farmers of the 
Eevenue, they were subject to the power of provincial magis- 
trates ; and, accordingly as a provincial magistrate favoured 
or hindered their exactions, it was probable that he would be 
treated with leniency or severity at their tribunal. 

Two celebrated causes had lately occurred which proved this 
point to demonstration. 

M' Aquillius had quelled the Second Slave-war in Sicily. His 
father had been noted for rapacity in Asia : the son followed 
too faithfully the example of his sire. His advocate, Antonius, 
pleaded his good services as a set-off against the corrupt practices 
by which he had amassed a large fortune. The orator concluded 
a pathetic appeal to the feelings of the jury by tearing open the 
tunic of the old soldier and displaying the scars which seamed 
his breast. The effect was such that the whole audience sobbed 
aloud, and iron tears were seen to roll down the cheeks of 
Marius. Aquillius was acquitted. 

^ P. Eutilius Rufus had displayed no small military talent as 
Legate to Metellus in the Jugurthan War. After his Consulship 
he had accompanied his friend Q. Scsevola the Pontiff as Legate 
to Asia. The severe spirit of justice which regulated his whole 
conduct could not tolerate the rapacity displayed by the Eques- 
trian Farmers of the Revenue, and he exerted himself to protect 
the helpless Provincials from their exactions. On his return, a 
person of indifferent character was induced to indict him before 
the Equestrian Court for impeding public officers in the execution 
of their duty. Rutilius had, like Scipio, been a disciple of the 
great Stoic teacher Pansetius, and he practised the rigid philo- 
sophy which he professed. He would not accept the services 
either of Crassus or Antonius, and prevented even Scsevola, who 
attended him into Court, from using the arts of advocacy. But 
probably no advocacy would have availed. The complainants 
and the jury belonged to the same body ; and the Knights proved 
that they were not more fit than the Senators to be judges in 
their own case.* 

§ 16. The iniquity of this sentence was so glaring that it gave 
an opportunity for wresting the privilege of judgment from the 
Knights. Scaurus cast his eye about for a fitting agent, and it 
fell on a young man named M. Livius Drusus, son of that Drusus 

* Cicero, a great patron of the Equestrian Order, declares that, "P. 
Rutilio damnato, nemo tam innoeens videbatur, ut non timeret judicia." — 
Pro Scauro, 1 ; compare In Pison. '39. 



Chap. LVI. TRIBUNATE OF DRUSUS. 5Y3 

wlio had served as the tool of the Senate in outbidding C. 
Gracchus. His family was good, his wealth great, his life spot- 
less, his mind cultivated, his eloquence remarkable, his temper 
fearless, and his will inflexible. The frank simplicity of his nature 
is Avell shown by a well-known anecdote. He was building a 
new house on the Palatine (the same which afterwards belonged 
to Cicero), and the architect promised so to construct it that no 
one should be able to overlook him. " Rather," said Drusus, " so 
arrange it that all my life may be open to all eyes." Scaurus soon 
found that he had chosen one who would not stoop to be the 
tool of a party. Several of the Italian towns sent deputies to 
pray Drusus to undertake their cause, and he eagerly agreed. 
Scaurus and the Senatorial leaders, to secure him for their own 
service, were obliged to support his foreign policy. 

§17. Drusus began his Tribunate like C. Gracchus and Sa- 
turninus. He resorted to the old expedient of an Agratian Law, 
by which Colonies were to be largely planted on the Public Lands 
of Italy and Sicily, and he proposed an extension of the Law for 
selling corn cheap. 

§ 18. He next undertook to fulfil the contract he had made 
with Scaurus. He did not, however, purpose simply to restore 
judicial power to the Senate; but devised a compromise, by 
which this power might be shared between its old and its new 
possessors. The number of the Senate was to be doubled by the 
addition of 300 members, to be chosen from among the Knights; 
and from these 600 Senators the Judges were to be chosen. But 
this plan failed to satisfy either party. The Knights, as a body, 
had no wish to transfer the privilege they now possessed to 300 
of their Order, and the Oligarchy were loud against Scaurus for 
betraying his Order. 

§ 19. The Oligarchy was even more irritated by the proposal 
to enfranchise the Italians. They won over the Consul Philippus, 
a cross-grained man of ready speech, who appeared in the 
Forum to oppose the Law. But Drusus ordered the Consul to be 
removed, and the order was executed with so little regard that 
blood burst from his mouth. On this Philippus declared in 
open Forum, that " with such a Senate as they now had it was 
impossible to carry on the Government." Next day, the Tribune 
rose in the House to complain of the attack made by the Consul 
on the Senatorial Order. He was seconded by Crassus in a speech 
so eloquent that he was thought to have surpassed himself. 
Philippus replied in a furious invective, and declared that he would 
exact pledges for good conduct from the Orator. This called up 
Crassus again, and he attacked the Consul in a strain of indig- 
nation unusual to him. "Do you expect," he exclaimed, "to 



57-4 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VL 

frighten me by pledges ? You must first cut out this tongue ; 
-and even then love of liberty will find means to testify against 
depraved license." The great Orator sat down amid general 
applause ; but his exertions brought on an attack of pleurisy, and 
in a week that eloquent tongue was mute for ever. 

§ 20. What might have been the result is impossible to guess ; 
for all further proceedings were cut short by the assassina- 
tion of the Tribune. Drusus knew that his life was in danger. 
For some time he had avoided public places, and received those 
who came to transact business with him in a covered walk behind 
his house. One evening, as he was dismissing his visitors, he 
cried out that he was stabbed, and fell to the ground. A leather- 
cutter's knife was found planted in his loins. He expired soon 
after, mournfully saying that it would be long before the Republic 
would have a servant so disinterested as himself. 

§ 21. The excitement produced by this last disappointment of 
their hopes was great throughout the towns of Italy. It was 
greater still when a Tribune named Varius, a native of Sucro in 
Spain, who had become a Roman citizen, introduced a Law by 
which it was declared that all who favoured Italian claims had 
been guilty of high treason against the People of Rome. Under 
this Law Scaurus and the leading Senators were at once im- 
peached. Some sought safety in exile. Antonius stood his trial, 
defended himself in a speech of passionate vehemence, and was 
acquitted. There was no evidence against Scaurus but the 
word of the accuser ; and the wary statesman contented himself 
with saying in defence : " Q. Varius, the Spaniard, says that M. 
Scaurus, the Chief of the Senate, has endeavoured to excite the 
Allies to rebellion. Choose ye, Quirites, which ye will believe." 
He was acquitted, and this is the last we hear of a man who 
for thirty years or more had been the virtual Chief of Rome. 




Coin of the Eight Italian Nations, joining in an Oath of Federation, with the 
Legend Italia. 



CHAPTER LVII. 

THE SOCIAL WAR. (b.C. 90, 89.) 

§ 1. Anger of the Italians : outbreak at Asculum. § 2. Organisation of the 
Italians : Consuls, Praetors, &c. § 3. Defeat and death of the Roman 
Consul, Rutilius Lupus : inactivity of Marius. § 4. New Consuls : 
Pompeius Strabo. § 5. Compromise proposed : Julian Law. § 6. Sul> 
mission of many : bitter enmity of the Samnites. § 7. Second Campaign: 
great successes of Sylla. § 8. And of Pompeius Strabo. § 9. Attempts 
at negotiation : Sylla takes BoYianum : answer of Mithridates. § 10. 
Capture of Asculum: submission of all the Allies except the Samnites and 
Lucanians : great losses on both sides. § 11. Plotian and Papirian Law. 
§ 12. Admission of K'ew Citizens. § 13. Difficulties and dangers in the 
new state of things. § 14. State of the Law-courts. 

§ 1. The occurrences described at the close of the last Chapter 
embittered the Italians to the uttermost. The outbreak of war 
was precipitated by an unpremeditated act of violence. 

Italy was at that time subject to the government of Proconsuls, 
One of these officers, named Servilius, stationed in the Picenian 
territory, received information that the citizens of Asculum were 
organising insurrection. He immediately entered that city with 
a small retinue, and, finding the citizens assembled for some festal 
purpose, he assailed them with vehement threats. The people 
set upon him and slew him ; and now that blood had been spilt, 
free vent was given to passion. All Romans who fell into their 
hands were massacred and their goods confiscated. 

The news spread like wildfire. A general meeting of the 
Allies was called. Deputies attended from the Picenians, from 
the Marsians, Pelignians, Marrucinians, and Vestinians ; from the 
Samnites, from the Apulians and the Lucanians. A formal state- 
ment of their claims was drawn up and despatched to Rome : — 
" They had," they said, " long done faithful service to the Re- 



S76 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VL 

public ; they had furnislied two-thirds of her armies ', they had 
conquered the world for her, yet they were still treated like mere 
aliens." The Senate stiffly replied, " that no embassies could be 
received till reparation was made for the late acts of violence." 

§ 2. The steps taken by the Eight Allied Nations showed the 
nature of the impending struggle. The question was, not whether 
the Italians were to become citizens of Rome, but whether Rome 
was to continue to be mistress of the Italian Confederation. 

They declared Corfinium, a strong city in the Pelignian Apen- 
nines, the capital of the new Italian League : henceforth it was 
to be called Italica.* Two Consuls were to be the chief officers 
of the League, each having six Prsetors under his command. A 
Senate was formed for managing public business : everything 
showed the determination of the insurgent Communities to 
supersede the authority of Rome. 

No time was lost in debating. Q. Pompsedius Silo, a Marsian, 
and C. Papius Motylus, a Samnite, were elected Consuls.f In 
every quarter able officers started up who had learned the art 
of war in the Roman armies, some of them under Marius. The 
most eminent names are C. Judacilius, a Picenian of Asculum, 
Herius Asinius, a Marrucinian, T. Lamponius of Lucania, with 
Vettius Scato, Marius Egnatius, and T. Afranius, all three of Sam- 
nite blood. The meagre accounts which remain to us of the 
Social WarJ make it difficult to distinguish between the merits 
of these commanders. Their proceedings seem to have weak- 
ened by want of concentration, and forcibly recal to mind the 
straggling and indecisive conflicts which characterised the earlier 
part of our own Civil War, before the genius of Cromwell gave 
unity of purpose to the armies of the Parliament, 

§ 3. The outbreak of the war (90 b.c.) evidently took the Senate 
by surprise. Campania itself, the favoured and favourite land of 
the Roman nobles, fell into the hands of the enemy. Nola was 
compelled to surrender : Stabise, Liternum, Salernum followed 
the example of Nola : Acerrse was closely invested by the Sam- 
nites. The Consul Csesar threw himself into this place, while his 
colleague Rutilius advanced with a regular army, with Marius for 
his Legate, to the Liris. He was met by Pompaedius Silo, the 
Marsian Consul. The Roman army was in two divisions, Rutilius 
himself commanding on the left, while Marius led the right to a 

* Coins of the Confederacy are found with the legend italia. See the 
Woodcut at the head of this Chapter. 

f Papius is the only one whose name appears on coins. — See below, note 
on § 5. 

X This is the name given to it by Florus, Eutropius, &c. Cicero and 
others call it Bellum Italicum. Horace, Strabo, and Plutarch call it the 
Marsian War. 



Chap. LVII. THE SOCIAL WAR. 577 

point nearer the sea. No sooner liad Rutilius crossed the river 
with negligent haste, than he was assaulted by Pompaedius. The 
Roman army was utterly defeated, the Consul himself slain, and 
Marius apprised of the Consul's defeat only by the number of 
dead bodies that came slowly floating down the Liris. The 
old General immediately crossed the river and drove back the 
victorious enemy. The body of the Consul was recovered and 
sent to be interred publicly at Rome. But the consternation 
which prevailed there was raised to its height by this fatal spec- 
tacle, and the Senate issued a Decree ordering that the bodies 
of the slain, however illustrious, should be buried in the place 
where they had fallen. 

Marius himself maintained his reputation only by foiling the 
enemy in all attempts to force on a battle. Pompsedius, flushed 
with success, called on him, — " If he were the great General he 
was reported, to come out and fight." " Nay," retorted Marius, 
" if you are the great General you would fain be thought, make 
me come out and fight." Plutarch attributes his inactivity to 
his age (he was now sixty-five), his corpulence, and the luxurious 
habits he had of late adopted. But subsequent events showed 
that he could be active enough when he pleased ; and it is more 
than probable that Marius purposely abstained from acting with 
energy against the Italians, who had fought his battles in the 
field and supported his political agitation in the City. 

§ 4. The Consuls chosen for the next year were, Cn. Pompeius 
Strabo, father of Pompey the Great, and L. Porcius Cato. Pom- 
peius was a greedy and selfish, but able man ; and he served the 
Republic well in the ensuing campaign. Cato had just rendered 
a great service to the State by checking a threatened rising in 
Etruria. 

§ 5. But the Senate trusted not wholly to military ability. 
During the autumn serious deliberations were held as to the 
expediency of a compromise. Statesmen of the school of Scaurus 
advocated the affirmative side : the actual Consul L, Caesar, and 
the Consul-elect Cn. Pompeius, were both of this class. Besides 
the losses in Campania, all Samnium, except the Colony of 
^sernia, was in the hands of the enemy ; in Apulia, even the 
Colonies of Venusia and Luceria had been taken by Judacilius, 
and Lamponius had driven the Praetor Crassus, son of the 
orator, out of Lucania. Unfavourable reports also came in from 
the North ; it seemed likely that the Sabellian insurrection might 
spread over the whole of Italy. The Consul Caesar was by the 
Senate empowered to draw up a Law, called after him the Julian 
Law, for granting the Franchise to those of the Allies who had 
either taken no part in the Social War, or had now ceased to 

25 



578 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VL 

take part in it, on the necessary condition tliat their respective 
countries should becomp integral portions of the Roman Terri- 
tory. To show that the Law was to be a reality, L. Caesar him- 
seltj with his Legate Crassus, were elected Censors for the year 
89 B.C. to enrol the new citizens, though it was but eighteen 
months since the last Censors had laid down their office-. 

The effect of this timely concession immediately appeared : a 
division of opinion ws created in many of the insurgent Commu- 
nities. But in others it excited a still more vigorous determina- 
tion. At first, the coins issued from the Mint of the Confederates 
bore Latin Legends : but as the contest became embittered, the 
Oscan character was adopted, as if to show that the language of 
Rome was to be henceforth disused by the friends of Italy.* 

§ 6. But while the Senate prudently disarmed the wavering 
or the lukewarm, they made strenuous exertions to crush those 
who should continue the war. The Samnites, above all, showed 
no inclination to accept favours from Rome : the deadly hostiUty 
of ancient times again broke out ; and they scrupled not to 
send an embassy to the Court of Mithridates, Desperate reso- 
lution could not be more strongly shown than by calling in an 
Asiatic monarch to share in the spoils of Italy. Proclamations 
were issued in which rewards were offered for the heads of 
Roman citizens, and freedom promised to all slaves who should 
join the Italian cause. 

§ Y. Early in the spring of the next year (89 b.c.) the cam- 
paign began. The Consul Pompeius moved northwards into the 
Picenian territory, while his colleague Cato covered the passes 
leading down from the Appennines into the Campagna of Rome. 
But Cato fell at the very outset of the campaign in a skirmish, 
and the chief command on the south of the Apennines fell to his 
Lieutenant, Sylla. 

Sylla now exerted himself to the utmost to eclipse the military 
renown of his old Commander Marin s. He took the field with 3. 
small Roman division, supported by a strong auxiliary force of 
Numidians and Moors, raised by his personal influence in Africa. 
With these troops he advanced within sight of the enemy's 
entrenched camp in Campania. A gigantic Gaul came out and 
challenged any of Sylla's men to single combat. The challenge 
was accepted by a Numidian, whose adroitness enabled him to 
lay low his huge antagonist. On this, the enemy's host fled in 
consternation towards Nola ; and Sylla followed so closely, that 
the garrison of that city were obliged to close the gates which 

* It is impossible to say w^ew this change took place. The coin at the 
end of this Chapter bears the name of Papius in Oscan characters, with 
only Two of the Allied Nations left. 



Chap. LVII. THE SOCIAL WAR. 579 

they liad opened to admit the fugitives. The active Roman fol- 
lowed np his first success so vigorously, that the enemy was 
obliged to leave Campania ; and Sylla, leaving part of his army 
to invest Nola, entered the Hirpinian country. Its towns sub- 
mitted ; and Sylla prepared to pass into the Pentrian valleys, the 
last and strongest holds of Samnite freedom. 

§ 8. Meanwhile, the Consul Pompeius had been pm-suing a 
coarse no less successful in the North. He had at first been 
defeated by Judacilius, Avho left Afranius to hold the Consul in 
check, while he repaired in person to Apulia. But Pompeius 
routed Afranius, and invested Asculum, the first seat of the 
insurrection. As soon as this ill news reached Judacilius, he 
flew to the relief of his native city, but only succeeded so far as 
to cut his way through the Roman lines and enter the gates with 
a few brave men. Pompeius left his lieutenants to blockade the 
place, which was desperately defended, and himself moved south- 
wards. Corfinium fell into his hands, and the seat of the insur- 
gent government was shifted to Bovianum, the chief stronghold 
of the Pentrian Samnites. 

Here then the war was to be decided. While Pompeius de- 
scended from the North, Sylla was advancing from the South. 

§ 9. At this moment an attempt was made to negotiate. Pom- 
peius and Scato had an interview, at which Cicero — then a youth 
of seventeen, served his first campaign in the Consul's army — was 
present. Sextus, the Consul's brother, came expressly from Rome 
to lend his good oflices for promoting peace. " I am," said he 
to the Samnite Chief, " by choice your friend, your enemy by 
necessity." But the attempt proved unavailing. 

Meanwhile, Sylla defeated the Samnite General Papius, and 
pushed on straight to Bovianum, where he was in correspondence 
with some persons attached to the Roman interest. The place 
was betrayed to him. 

About the same time an answer arrived from Mithridates. He 
bade the Samnites hold out firmly : he was, he said, at present 
engaged in expelling the Romans from Asia ; when that work was 
done, he would cross the sea, and assist them in crushing the 
she-wolf of Italy. But promises at such a juncture were equiva- 
lent to refusal. . 

§ 10. On all hands, therefore, the fortune of Rome was in the 
ascendant. Judacilius, finding that he could hold Asculum no 
longer, raised a funeral pile in sight of his banqueting-hall, and 
after a sumptuous entertainment given to his friends, drained a 
poisoned cup of wine to the dregs, ascended the fatal pile, and 
bade his guests set fire to it. The place surrendered, and the 
Consul Pompeius treated the citizens with ruthless severity ; tho 



580 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

richer sort were belieaded ; tlie rest sold as slaves ; the houses 
rased to the ground. Among those reserved to grace his triumph 
was a boy named P. Ventidius Bassus, who afterwards became 
one of the best officers in the Roman army, and himself enjoyed 
a triumph for avenging the defeat of Crassus upon the Parthians. 
The Vestinians and Pelignians yielded to the Consul ; Sulpicius 
received the submission of the Marrucinians, Murena and Me- 
tellus Pius that of the Marsians.* The brave Marsian Chief, 
Pompsedius, fled into Apulia, pursued by Metellus ; and venturing 
to give battle, was defeated and slain. Venusia returned to 
its allegiance. But Canusium in Apulia and Nola in Campania 
were still held by Samnite garrisons ; and the Samnites them- 
selves in their mountains, with a portion of the Lucanians, stib 
defied the Roman arms. 

The successful issue of the war was not purchased without 
heavy losses on the side of Rome. It is computed that in 
the whole of this deadly struggle not fewer than 300,000 of the 
youth of Italy fell. The greater part of them belonged doubtless 
to the enemy. But Avhen we speak of the enemy, it must be 
remembered that in every man who fell — whether Roman, Latin, 
or Italian — the Republic lost a soldier. 

§ 11. When it was too late, the Senate showed themselves 
forward in concession. In the early part of the second cam- 
paign, the Tribunes, M. Plotius Sylvanus and C. Papirius Carbo, 
Drought in a Law supplementary to the Julian Law, by which its 
privileges were granted not only to the Italian allies, but also to 
the burgesses of all allied cities in the provinces, who were at 
that time domiciled in Italy, provided that they registered their 
names before the Praetor of the city within sixty days.f The 
Consul Pompeius emulated his predecessor by proposing a law for 
advancing all the citizens of the Gallic communities beyond the 
Po to the condition of Latin burgesses. 

§ 12. The practical question that remained was the mode of 
admitting the new citizens. It is evident that there were two 
distinct ways in which this might be accomplished. First, the 
number of Tribes might have been retained as it was ; and the 
Italians might either have been distributed through the whole 
Thirty-five, or have been confined (like the Freedmen) to a cer- 
tain number. Of these plans, the former mode would have made 
the Italians masters of the Comitia on all occasions ; the latter 

* It must have been after the submission of these fom- nations that the 
A.llies struck money with four figures instead of eight. The four shortly 
ifter fell to two. See the coins at the head and foot of this Chapter. 

f The argument of Cicero in his well-known speech for the poet Archiaa 
turns upon the provisions of this law. 



Chap. LVII. 



THE SOCIAL WAR. 



581 



would lifive looked like an insult and a degradation. Or, secondly, 
the number of Tribes might be increased, and the new Tribes 
reserved for the Italians. This was the plan adopted. The 
Censors, L. Cajsar and P. Crassus, entered on their office during 
the present year ; and in the course of the year 89 b.c, they 
created Ten new Tribes for the Italians alone, and prepared to 
register all their -names as Eoman citizens of these Tribes. But 
the Civil War prevented the Censors from finishing their work. 

§ 13. The difficulties attached to the question of enfranchising 
the Italians showed that it was not a merely factious opposition 
which had hitherto been offered. The Senate indeed had shown 
an anxious disposition to settle the matter peaceably ; and the 
passing of the Law to extend the Franchise, before arms were 
laid down, proves that they gave up the stern maxim of the old 
Republic, " Spare the submissive, and war down the proud." It 
was in fact impossible to adapt a Constitution originally fitted for 
a small Civic Community to a great Country. It was manifest 
that the Italians would not rest satisfied with the scanty share 
of direct power granted to them ; and yet it was hardly safe to 
grant them more, unless, indeed, some statesman in advance of 
his time had suggested a plan resembling the modern system of 
Representative Parliaments. But no such plan was thought of. 
It may be said that the partial admission of the Italians to the 
franchise annulled the old Roman Constitution, and made an 
absolute Monarchy almost a political necessity. 

§ 14. During the Social War the. High Courts of Justice had 
been closed. Of the great advocates, Crassus was dead, Anto- 
nius was absent from Rome, Cotta, who had aspired to succeed 
to their fame, Avas in exile. Hortensius, who was fast establish- 
ing his claim to be considered the first orator of his day, was 
employed in the first year of the war as a Legionary Tribune, in 
the second as a Ti'ibune. Sulpicius, another eloquent speaker, 
had served as a Legate of the Consul Pompeius. Cicero, not yet 
eighteen, had just imbibed that distaste for a military life which 
attached him ever after to the Forum, ^ 




Coin of the Two Allied Nations who last held out, with the name of Papius in Oscan 

Characters. 



CHAPTBE LVIII. 

FIRST CIVIL WAR. (88 86 B.C.) 

§ 1. Sylla appointed to the command against Mithridates. § 2. Attempt of 
the young Nobles to relieve themselves of debt. § 3. The Tribune Sul- 
pieius. § 4. He proposes to distribute the Italians among all the Tribes. 
§ 5. Riots : the law passed, and Marius chosen to supersede Sylla, § 6. 
Sylla flies to his army at Kola. § '7. Marches upon Rome : joined by the 
other Consul Q. Pompeius Rufus. § 8. Battle in streets of Rome. § 9. 
Marius and eleven others outlawed by the Senate.' § 10. Death of Sul- 
picius. § 11- Adventures of Marius: he reaches Africa. § 12. Unpopu- 
larity of Sylla : Octavius and Cinna, Consuls : oath of Cinna : murder of 
Pompeius Rufus: Sylla leaves Italy. § 13. Cinna puts himself at the head 
of the Italians : he is driven out of Rome, and deprived of the Consulship. 
§ 14. The army at !N"ola declares for Cinna: the Italians rise in arms. 
§ 15. Marius returns to Italy : joins Cinna. § 16. Efforts of the Senate : 
Pompeius Strabo enters Rome. § 1*7. Blockade of Rome by four armies. 
§ 18. Death of Pompeius: surrender of Rome. § 19. The Marian Mas- 
sacre. § 20. Sertorius slaughters the slaves. § 21. Death of Catulus and 
others. § 22. Seventh Consulship and death of Marius. 

§ 1. Marius was the cause o£ the First Civil War; but the per- 
son who gave occasion to its outbreak was Mithridates, King of 
Pontus. We have said that in the second year of the Social War 
this remarkable man encouraged the insurgents to hope for his 
support as soon as he had expelled the Romans from Asia. The 
details of this enterprise will be given in the next chapter. Here 
we must be content with stating that, before the end of the year 
89 B.C., the Senate had determined upon war, and a Commander 
was to be chosen. In the mind of Marius, this Commander could 
be none other than himself: he had long fixed his eye upon the 
East, and had done what in him lay to hasten a rupture. Late 
events had shown him that Sylla, whom he hated, might become 
a formidable rival ; and he left the sumptuous villa which he had 
lately erected at Misenum, for a house adjoining the Forum. 
He daily frequented that busy place, and, notwithstanding his 
increasing age and corpulence, again joined in the military exer- 
cises of the Campus, trusting that thus he should be always in 
the sight of the People. But the glory won by Sylla in the Social 
War marked him as the person to whom the command was due ; 
and, as he was Consul-elect, his appointment was regarded as a 



Chap. LVIII. FIRST CIVIL WAR. 583 

matter of course. In the heart of Marius hatred was made 
intense by disappointment; and he determined, cost what it 
might, to secure the command for himself. 

§ 2. Circumstances favoured his design. The business of 
farming the revenue every day increased the wealth of the 
Equestrian Order. To them all who needed money resorted. 
They demanded high rates of interest ; but lavish expenditure 
was the fashion among the young Nobles. Some of those who 
were heavily burthened with debt raked up an old law, by which 
usurious interest was forbidden, and refused to pay more than 
was by this law allowed. A case was brought before the Pra3tor 
Asellio, Avho allowed the noble debtors to prosecute their cre- 
ditors for illegal usury. The fury of the Knights rose to the 
utmost : Asellio was assaulted and murdered. 

§ 3. Among the Tribunes of the year was P. Sulpicius, a master 
of lofty and pathetic eloquence,''' who had been a friend of the 
unfortunate Drnsus, and was animated by bitter enmity against 
Q. Pompeius Rufus, Sylla's colleague in the Consulship. This was 
the person whom old Marius now selected as his political agent, 
as he had formerly chosen Saturninus. Marius held up before 
his ardent imagination the treasures of Mithridates, promising 
that, if the command were transferred to himself, he would em- 
ploy the wealth of the Pontic King to relieve the Roman debtors. 
Sulpicius caught eagerly at the oft'er. 

§ 4. There was no inclination among the People of Rome to 
supersede Sylla. But if the Italians could exercise a weight in 
the Comitia proportioned to their numbers, it was plain that 
Marius, alway a favourite with the Italian countrymen, would 
be secure of the appointment. Sulpicius, therefore, boldly gave 
notice of two measures : one by which the Italians were to be 
distributed evenly through all the Tribes ; a second, by which 
all Freedmen who had served in the Italian Wars were to be 
placed on a level with the Old Citizens. Thus in every Tribe the 
New Citizens, comprising Italians and Freedmen, would form a 
majority, and thus the votes of the Tribes would be at the dis- 
posal of Marius. 

§ 5. It was not to be expected that the Old Citizens Would 
tamely submit to be overridden. As the day for voting drew 
nigh, battles with stones and staves were of daily occurrence. 
The Consuls endeavoured to postpone the day of conflict by pro- 
claiming a Justitium or General Holiday, the effect of which 
was to suspend all public business. But the Tribune declared 
his intention to proceed to a vote, just as if the Consuls had 
issued no proclamation ; and ordered a body of 3000 young men 
* " Maxime omnium grandis et tragieus Orator." — Cicero Brut. 55. 



584 CIVIL WARS : FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

to attend lairn, with concealed daggers, in the Forum : they were 
to strike when he commanded, not sparing even the Consuls, if 
need were. On the appointed day the Tribune rose, and declared 
the proclamation of the Public Holiday illegal, on the ground that 
there was no special cause for it.* A loud outcry arose from 
the Old Citizens ; upon which, at a sign from the Tribune, his 
adherents drew their daggers. Their opponents fled. Pompeius 
only escaped by hiding himself: his son, who was married to 
Sylla's daughter, was ruthlessly murdered. Sylla fled into the 
house of Marius, which faced the Forum, whence he was obliged 
to return, and declare the Justitium at an end. The Laws then 
passed Avithout opposition ; and, as a matter of course, the 
command in the Mithridatic "War was transferred to Marius. 

§ 6. Sylla went straight from the Forum to his camp before 
Nola (for the Samnites had not yet surrendered that town), with 
the purpose of hurrying to the East. But he had already been 
superseded; and two officers arrived in camp bearing a com- 
mission from Marius to assume the command. Sylla was now 
compelled to take a decisive part. Either he must submis- 
sively resign or must vindicate his right by force. The name of 
Civil War was not yet familiar to Eoman ears ; and before he 
committed himself to actual hostilities, he resolved to sound the 
inclinations of his troops. He summoned them to the Prse- 
torium. He enlarged on the insults that had been off'ered to 
himself; and gave them to understand that, unless he remained in 
command, their hopes of booty from the Mithridatic War must 
end ; and concluded by a hope that they would obey his orders. 
The men gave a ready interpretation to his last words by calling 
upon him to lead them to Rome, and proved their zeal by stoning 
to death the ofiicers sent by Marius. Sylla, fully assured, ordered 
six Legions to get under arms. The superior officers, however, 
shrunk from lending countenance to civil war ; and all, save one 
Quaestor, fled to Rome. 

§ v. In the City the consternation Avas great. The Senate, 
more from fear of Marius than of their own good will, sent to 
demand of Sylla why he was. in arms against his country. "To 
set her at liberty," was the only answer he vouchsafed. The 
Praetors then went out, invested with all the ensigns of their 
office : but the soldiers broke their fasces, and stripped them of 
their robes. Sylla meantime continued to advance. The ofiicers 
who had deserted him were replaced by persons of note, who had 
fled from Rome : above all, he was joined by his colleague and 
kinsman, Q. Pompeius Rufus ; and henceforth all his acts ran in 

* A Justitium was proclaimed for some great triumph or disaster, — the 
former case accompanied by a Supplicatio or Public Thanksgiving. 



Chap. LVIII. FIRST CIVIL WAR. 585 

the joint name of tlio two Consuls of the year, — a fact which 
had great authority over men's minds. 

§ 8. The prompt audacity of Sylla took Marius and Sulpicius 
by surprise. They had not calculated on his daring to march a 
Roman army against Rome. To gain time, they sent a last em- 
bassy, in the name of the Senate, requesting the Consuls to 
stop the march of the army till the Fathers had come to some 
resolution. Sylla, now about five miles from the gates, pro- 
mised to comply : but no sooner had the envoys turned their 
backs, than he despatched two officers with a detachment 
to occupy the high ground adjoining the Esquiline. They 
marched so rapidly that they seized the Colline Gate, and pene- 
trated into the City ; but their progress was stopped by the 
People, who threw tiles and stones upon them from the house- 
tops. Meantime the Consuls had come up with their whole 
force. Pompeius pushed forward with one Legion to support 
the troops at the Colline Gate ; another Legion seized the Caeli- 
montane Gate ; a third turned the Aventine, and occupied the 
Sublician Bridge ; a fourth was left in reserve before the walls ; 
while Sylla with the remaining two entered the City. 

His opponents, meanthiie, had assembled a considerable force ; 
and in the district between the Cselian and the Esquiline, armed 
soldiers for the first time encountered in the streets of Rome. 
Sylla's men were beaten back, till, seizing an eagle, he threw 
himself into the thick of the fray. Meanwhile, his reserve Legion 
entered the city and attacked Marius in flank from the Suburra. 
The old General, finding his position turned, retreated to the 
Capitol, whence he issued a proclamation offering liberty to all 
slaves who would join his banner. But this desperate act only 
revealed his weakness, and even those who had hitherto sup- 
ported him dispersed. Marius and Sulpicius, with all their 
chief friends, sought safety in flight. 

§ 9. Meantune Sylla had marched his Legions in good order 
down the Sacred Way into the Forum, and restored public con- 
fidcTice by inflicting summary punishment upon all plunderers. 
Next morning he addressed the People in a set speech, de- 
ploring the extremity to which he had been forced by profligate 
demagogues. From the Forum the Consuls proceeded to the 
Senate-house. A Decree was issued, by which twelve persons 
were proclaimed traitors. Among these, the most eminent were 
Marius, his son, his son-in law L. Granius, and the Tribunes Sul- 
picius and Albinovanus. Against this arbitrary Decree no one 
had courage to raise a voice except Q. Scsevola, the Pontifex. 
"Never," said the old lawyer, "will I consent to declare Caius 
Marius an outlaAV." 

25* 



586 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

§ 10. All the proclaimed persons had escaped. But Sulpicius, 
who had secreted himself in a villa near Laurentum, "was be- 
trayed by a slave and slain. His head was exposed upon the 
Eostra, from which his eloquence had so often moved the people 
to tears, — the first example of a barbarous practice which became 
common in after years, The treacherous slave was rewarded by 
Sylla for doing his duty to the State, and then thrown down 
the Tarpeian Rock for betraying his master, — a perfidious judg- 
ment, characteristic of a country where slaves are numerous 
and held in fear. The masters dare not recognise tbem as free 
men, even where the public interest is most concerned. 

§ 11. Marius himself ran through a series of adventures 
strange as ever were coined by the brain of a romancer. He 
reached Ostia in company with Granius his son-in-law, and a 
few slaves : hence they proposed to take ship for Africa, 
where Marius had much influence, derived from the times of the 
Jugurthan War. When young Marius, who had taken a diff"erent 
route, arrived at Ostia, he found that his father had put to sea. 
By a lucky chance, however, he found another vessel sailing for 
Africa, and reached that Province in safety. Meantime, old 
Marius was by stress of weather driven to land near Circeii. 
From this place the party wandered southward along the deso- 
late shore in great distress, till some herdsmen, who recognised 
the old General, warned him of the approach of a party of 
cavalry. Not daring to keep the road, the fugitives plunged 
into the forest which still covers the coast. Here they passed 
the night in great misery, and next morning continued their 
forlorn walk. Marius alone kept up his spirits and encouraged 
his attendants by assurances that a seventh Consulship was 
yet in store for him. In the two following days they had 
dragged their weary limbs over a space of about forty miles 
direct distance, when they saw a body of horse coming towards 
them. It happened that two merchant vessels- were passing 
southward close in-shore. The fugitives plunged into the sea, 
and made for the ships. Granius reached one of them, and was 
put ashore in the island of Pithecusa (Ischia). So exhausted 
was Marius, that he was hardly kept above water by two slaves, 
till the seamen got him on board the other vessel. Meantime, 
the horsemen rode down to the water's edge, and, calling out 
to the captain, demanded the person of Marius. With tears 
the old General besought protection ; and after much wavering 
the captain continued his course. When they reached the mouth 
of the Liris, he persuaded Marius to go ashore, as it Avas neces- 
sary to lie to till the land-wind rose. But no sooner had his 
boat returned, than the faithless captain got under way, and 



Chap. LVIII. FIRST CIVIL WAR. 587 

Marius was loft absolutely alone upon the swampy beacli. He 
walked Avcarily to an old man's liut, who concealed him in a hole 
near the river, and covered him with reeds. Presently the 
horsemen came up and demanded where Marius was. Afraid 
of being discovered, the fugitive rose from his hiding-place and 
dashed into the river. He was perceived and dragged ashore ; 
and the horsemen conveyed him, nearly naked and covered Avith 
mud, to Minturnse. Here he was given over to the magistrates 
of the town, who had received a circular letter from the Con- 
suls, ordering them to put ]\Iarius to death if he should fall into 
their hands. But the magistrates, not liking to incur such 
responsibility, referred the matter to a Town Council. 

The Council voted that Sylla's orders should be obeyed, and a 
Gaulish slave was sent with orders to ^ut the old General to 
death. It was dark, and, as the man entered the room where 
Marius was lying, he saw the old man's eyes glaring through the 
darkness, while a deep voice exclaimed : " Fellow, darest thou 
slay Cains Marius ?" He threw down his sword and fled, crying, 
" I cannot slay Caius Marius." By the connivance of the Magis- 
trates, the fugitive escaped to Ischia, where he joined Granius, 
and a friendly ship was found to convey him to Africa. Hear- 
ing that his son had already arrived, he was emboldened to 
land near the site of ancient Carthage. But the Praetor Sex- 
tilius sent him orders to quit the Province without delay. 
Marius with silent in^lignation gazed fixedly on the messenger, 
till the man demanded what answer he should take back to the 
Prtetor. " Tell him," said the old General, " that you have seen 
Caius Marius sitting among the ruins of Carthage." 

Soon after, he was joined by his son, who had endeavoured 
to gain support from Hiempsal, King of Numidia. The J^oung 
man had been received with outward kindness, but was in fact 
detained as prisoner, till he was taught to escape by the com- 
passion of the King's daughter. After this, Marius remained in 
Africa without molestation. 

§ 12. Meanwhile Sylla at Rome was not without his diffi- 
culties. He found both Senate and People so shocked by the 
intrusion of armed legions within the sacred precincts of the 
city, that he thought it prudent to send back the troops to their 
old quarters in Campania, while he remained himself to settle 
matters in his own favour, before he took his departure for the 
East. The Senate, on his motion, issued a Decree by which the 
laws of Sulpicius were declared null and void ; and thus the 
Italian voters were again deprived of the advantages granted 
them by those laws, while Sylla's appointment to the Oriental 
command resumed its force. But there was no disposition to 



588 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

favour liim, and he was unable to influence the Consular elec- 
tions. The choice fell upon Cn. Octavius, a feeble nobleman, 
given to superstitious reverence for astrologers,* and L. Cornelius 
Cinna. It is plain that the latter was an object of suspicion to 
Sylla's observant eye ; for before he assumed office he was com- 
pelled by the General to repair to the Temple of Capitoline 
Jupiter, and there solemnly to swear that he would not disturb 
the existing order of things. 

But Sylla's position was very insecure. Cn. Pompeius Strabo, 
still serving as Proconsul in Apulia, was superseded by Q. 
Pompeius Rufus, Sylla's kinsman and late colleague. But no 
sooner had Strabo left his army, than a mutiny broke out, and 
Rufas was murdered by the soldiers. The wily Proconsul im- 
mediately returned to the camp, and, after rebuking the muti- 
neers with apparent sternness, quietly resumed the command; 
nor was Sylla strong enough to take notice of this piece of 
preconcerted treachery. Plots were formed against his life, and 
the murder of his colleague was a token of what might next be 
his own fate. Cinna urged one of the new Tribunes to impeach 
him for bringing an army within the walls of Rome ; upon which 
the General hastened to Campania, and shipped his troops for 
Greece, leaving the Aristocracy to fight their own battle. 

§ 13. His departure was the signal for a fresh outbreak of 
Civil War. Cinna, an ambitious, unprincipled, and reckless man, 
perceived that he could at once raise himself to importance by 
putting himself at the head of the New Citizens, or Italian party, 
who had been left without leaders by the death of Sulpicius and 
the flight of Marius. He at once gave notice of a Bill for again 
distributing the Italians and Freedmen through all the Tribes. 
This measure was warmly opposed by the Senate and by the old 
Roman citizens. On the day of voting, Cinna's party occupied 
the Forum, armed Avith daggers ; and when it appeared that the 
Tribunes were about to interpose their veto, they drew their 
weapons upon those ofiicers. The Old Citizens, headed by Octa- 
vius, opposed force by force ; and a furious battle ensued, which 
ended in the Italians being driven from the Forum.f Cinna was 
obliged to quit Rome ; and the Senate immediately deprived him 
of the Consular office, and conferred it, by their own authority, 
on L. Cornelius Merula, Flamen of Jupiter, an inoffensive man, 
who allowed the perilous honour to be thrust upon him. 

§ 14. Cinna was now completely compromised, and he took the 
bold step of trusting himself to the troops left by Sylla before 

* " Chaldaeans," as they were called. See Juven. vi. 554. x. 94. 
f With the loss of 10,000 men, according to Plutarch Vit. Serior. 4 This 
period of the Civil War was called Bellum Octavianum by Cieera 



Chap. LVIII. FIRST CIVIL WAR. 589 

NolcO, who were discontented at being excluded from participating 
in the gains of the Mithridatic War. With passionate words he 
told the soldiery that the Senate had stripped him of the high 
office which had been conferred by the votes of the People ; and 
then he rent his robe and threw himself on the ground. The 
unwonted sight of a Consul in this attitude moved the susceptible 
feelings of the men. All took the oath of obedience to him as 
Consul. But Cinna not only addressed himself to the Roman 
soldiers who were beleaguering Nola ; he also invited the Samnite 
garrison of Nola to make common cause with him against the 
old Roman citizens. In a similar strain he declaimed in the 
towns of Italy which had lately been engaged in the Social War. 
Everywhere he was received with enthusiasm. The Social War 
was revived under a different aspect. A Consul appeared as their 
leader, and Marius, the greatest General of Rome, was known to 
favour their claims. Cinna was soon at the head of a formidable 
army. Among the officers who accepted commissions from him 
may be named Cn. Papirius Carbo and Q. Sertorius, men who 
played great parts in the following years. 

§ 15. News of these proceedings soon reached old Marius 
in Africa, where he assembled about a thousand desperate 
men, and, landing in Etruria, soon found himself in command 
of a large force, which was brought into order by his habits 
of command. He also made himself master of a small but 
well-appointed fleet. He was now in a condition to treat with 
Cinna, and offered to accept a commission under him as Con- 
sul. Cinna's officers advised him to close with this offer, all 
except Sertorius. This sagacious man, who had served xmder 
Marius in the Cimbrian War, and had gained distinction in the 
war against the Allies, feared the savage temper of his old general, 
and advised Cinna not to compromise his cause by uniting it to 
that of Marius. But when Cinna confessed that he had opened 
a correspondence with Marius in Africa, Sertorius withdrew his 
objections. Cinna offered to Marius the rank of Proconsul. But 
the old man grimly refused all marks of honour. 

§ 16. Meanwhile the Senate had been exerting themselves to 
raise a force for the defence of the city. They hired mercenaries 
in Gaul. They sent orders to Pompeius Strabo to bring up his 
army. They directed Metellus Pius, who was still employed in 
reducing the Samnites, to make what terms he could with the 
enemy, and hasten to Rome. Metellus lingered ; but Pompeius 
advanced to the CoUine Gate, where he maintained an obstinate 
reserve, and seemed uncertain whether he should join the Senate 
or go over to Marius. But after some fruitless intrigues he at 
length entered Rome, and united his troops to the scanty force 
of the Consul Ootavins. 



590 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

§ 1*7. The armies of tlie assailants now drew close round 
Eome, so as to invest it on every side. Cinna took his post near 
the CoUine Gate, so as to intercept communications with -the 
north and north-east. Carbo lay on his left, so as to command 
the roads which approached Rome from the east ; Sertorius on 
his right, so as to bar all passage from Etruria and the north- 
west. Marius himself took up his position on the Tiber, across 
which he threw a bridge, so as to communicate with Carbo on 
the one side and Sertorius on the other. Thus placed, with 
large forces at their command, the allied generals calculated on 
reducing the city by famine. 

§ 18. Pompeius, after defeating an attempt of Marius to take 
Janiculura, died suddenly, and a plague broke out which deci- 
mated the Senatorial army. By this time Metellus had quitted 
Samnium, and encamped upon the Alban Hills. Here he was 
visited by some of the soldiers of Pompeius, who entreated him 
to take the chief command. But he was unable to do more than 
threaten Cinna's rear. Tired of inaction, great part of his troops 
deserted or returned home ; and the Senate, left almost defence- 
less, determined on attempting negotiations. A deputation of 
Senators arrived in the camp of Cinna, who prefaced all proceed- 
ings by asking whether they were prepared to treat with him 
" as Consul." They had no instructions on this point, and re- 
turned to Rome, while Cinna advanced his camp within a dart's 
throw of the gates. A second deputation arrived, and humbly 
saluted him as Consul. He received them sitting in his chair 
of state, with his Lictors on either side. The Deputies asked 
nothing more than that before entering the city he would take 
an oath not to suffer a general massacre. Cinna answered gently, 
and promised not to authorise any slaughter ; but all hopes 
inspired by the moderation of his language were damped by 
the aspect of old Marius. He stood behind the Consul's chair, 
in mean apparel, Avith his hair and beard rough and long, for 
they had been left untrimmed ever since the day on Avhich he 
had fled from Rome, and with a sullen frown upon his brow. 
But the Senate had little room for choice. Hastily they passed 
a Decree, inviting Cinna, Marius, and their partisans to enter the 
City. Marius ironically replied, that he had been formally pro- 
claimed a traitor, and must be formally restored to his rights. 
But before a second Decree could issue, he had entered the City 
with the army. 

§ 19. Rome was treated as a conquered city. The soldiers, 
consisting of slaves and vagabonds of all kinds, combined with 
Italians smarting from the late war, were let loose to plunder. 
The unfortunate Octavius, assured by his astrologers, Avas slain 



Ch.\p. LVIII. first civil war. 591 

while seated upon liis Consular chair in the Janiculum, Ilis 
slaughter was but the prelude to a series of horrible butcheries, 
Marius had returned to Italy full of the memory of his ignomini- 
ous flight, lie was attended everywhere by a band of ruffians, 
who had orders to strike down any person of rank whom their 
master passed without the courtesy of a salute. The Senators 
who had opposed his recall from exile were among his first 
victims. Q. Lentulus, C Numitorius, M. Bsebius, and others 
were cut down, and their bodies dragged through the public 
places. P. Crassus, seeing his eldest son slain by Fimbria, put 
an end to his own life. L. Cassar, author of the Law for en- 
franchising the Italians, and his brother Caius, were murdered in 
their own houses. Q. Ancharius came in suppliant guise to 
Marius, when he was sacrificing in the Capitol ; but the relent- 
less old man ordered the suppliant to be cut down in the very 
precincts of the Temple and his body cast into the street. The 
example of Marius was followed by all who had private wrongs 
to avenge, or debts to cancel. Many Knights were massacred, 
doubtless by their creditors. Slaves, drunk with passion and 
licence, wreaked a less discriminating vengeance upon all who 
fell in their way. But here it must be recorded that many were 
saved by the devotion of their household slaves. Cornutus was 
pursued to his house by some of the gang of Marius ; his slaves 
hung up one of the corpses, which were but too plentiful, with 
their master's gold ring upon the hand ; and when the murderers 
burst into the house, these faithful slaves pretended that they 
had anticipated the deed of blood, and by this pious fraud saved 
their master. The orator Antonius had incurred the special 
wrath of Marius by an eloquent speech in which he had opposed 
his recal to Rome. For some time he was concealed in a country- 
house by his slaves. But one of these simple men, in buying 
wine, told the vintner that he must have good liquor, since it 
was (he whispered) for the special use of the great orator An- 
tonius. The treacherous dealer hastened with the news to 
Marius, who ordered the orator's head to be brought to him and 
placed it on the table as the chief ornament of the banquet. 

§ 20. Cinna took no part in these atrocities. Sertorius looked 
on with deep disgust, especially when he saw the enfranchised 
slaves giving a loose to every licentious passion with a Baccha- 
nalian glee which excites pity, not only for the sufferers, but 
also for those who by ill-treatment had been degraded into 
savages. By the permission of the Consul, Sertorious fell upon 
them with a body of his own troops, and slew several thousands. 
By this rude justice order was in some degree restored. 

§2]. But some persons who had escaped the massacre had 



592 CIVIL WARS : FIRST PERIOD. Book VL 

been too conspicuous to remain unpunished, and against them 
the mockery of legal forms was put in motion. The most emi- 
nent of these were L. Cornelius Merula, Flamen of Jupiter, and 
Q. Lutatius Catulus, colleague of Marius in his Cimbric triumph. 
Merula was a quiet and respectable man, whose only offence was 
that he had unwillingly superseded Cinna in the Consulship. 
For this he was indicted ; and knowing that indictment was 
equivalent to condemnation, he repaired to the great Temple on 
the Capitol, and opening his veins bled to death. Catulus, like 
Antonius, had offended Marius by opposing his recal from exile. 
Some influential friends endeavoured to awaken in the breast 
of the stern old man some generous memory of the days when 
he had refused to triumph over the barbarians without Catulus 
to share his triumph. But in vain. " He must die," was the 
only answer vouchsafed. Catulus shut himself up in a newly- 
plastered room, lighted a charcoal fire, and died by suffocation. 
Sylla himself was beyond reach ; but his house was rased to the 
ground, his property confiscated, and himself proclaimed a traitor. 
His wife Csecilia and his children fled to join him in Greece. 

Of all Senators put to death in these days of Terror, the 
heads were exposed upon the Rostra, a ghastly tribute to the 
manes of the Tribune Sulpicius, who was the first Roman citizen 
thus dishonoured. The bodies of all were left unburied, to be de- 
voured by dogs and birds. But it must be observed that the 
Massacre of Marius differed widely from the Proscriptions of 
later times. It was a burst of savage passion, which lasted for 
a few hours, and was not marked by any systematic rules of 
murder and confiscation, 

§ 22. The short remainder of the year passed in gloomy tran- 
quillity. News of Sylla's victories in the East from time to time 
disturbed the satisfaction of the conquerors. But for the pre- 
sent they were absolute. Cinna remained sole Consul till the 
Kalends of January of 86 B.C., when Marius for the seventh 
time, and Cinna for the second, assumed the fasces without 
election. On the first day of his authority, Marius ordered one 
Sext. Licinius, a Senator, to be thrown down the Tarpeian Rock, 
without even the form of a trial. Sad presages arose of what 
might follow. But Marius, since his return, had given himself 
to wine and riotous living ; and his iron constitution, worn out 
by former labours, and especially by his late strange sufferings, 
sank under an inflammatory fever. The hero of six Consulships 
died in thirteen days after he had seen his cherished expecta- 
tions fulfilled by the seventh tenure of that high oflace, — hated 
by his enemies, feared even by his friends. 




Coin of Mithridates VI. 



CHAPTER LIX. 



FIRST MITHRIDATIC WAR. (88 84 B.C.) 

§ 1. Rise of kingdom of Pontus : ancestors of Mithridates. § 2. His youth, 
education, and character. § 3. His conquests from Pontus to the Borys- 
thenes : alliance "with Tigranes of Armenia. § 4. Seizes Cappadocia : 
intervention of Sylla. § 5. Encourages ItaUans during Social War : 
seizes Bithynia, while Tigranes invades Cappadocia : Aquillius sent to re- 
store Nicomedes. § 6. Mithridates invades Roman Province : treatment of 
Aquillius. § 1. Honours paid to Mithridates : Massacre of Italians. § 8. 
Athens revolts : Archelaus sent by Mithridates to garrison Piraeeus. 
§ 9. Sylla lands in Epirus : assault and siege of Piraeeus : gallant defence 
of Archelaus. § 10. Siege of Piraeeus raised: fall of Athens. § 11. 
Archelaus retires by sea: fall of Piraeeus. § 12. Sylla defeats Archelaus 
at Chaeronea. § 13. Marches to intercept Flaccus : returns and defeats 
Archelaus at Orchomenus : winters in Thessaly. § 14. Flaccus murdered 
by Fimbria at Nicomedia. § 15. Fimbria nearly surprises Mithridates at 
Pergamus. § 16. Negotiations of Sylla and Archelaus. § 17. Sylla 
advances into Thrace : meets Mithridates in Troad : Peace concluded. 
§ 18. Attacks Fimbria : his death. § 19. Leaves Murena in Asia : spends 
remainder of 84 b.c. in Greece. 

§ 1. It will be necessary to go back in order to gain a clear per- 
ception of the causes which led to the Mithridatic War. 

After the battle of Magnesia, Asia Minor was broken up into a 
number of petty principalities, jealous of one another. Eumenes 
of Pergamus was rewarded by the addition of Lydia and some 
other districts to his rule ; but in time the kingdom of Pergamus 



594 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

became a Eoman Province under the proud title of Asia,* just 
as tlie name of Libya or Africa had been bestowed on the Pro- 
vince formed out of the territory of Carthage. Bithynia to the 
north, subject to Kings of Macedonian origin, had, since Prusias 
declared his inability to protect Hannibal, fallen completely 
under Eoman influence. At this time it vs^as governed by Nico- 
medes II., grandson of Prusias. Cappadocia was subject to a 
prince named Ariarathes. Galatia, united into one principality, 
■was ruled by a native chief named Deiotarus. 

But a country beyond these distant realms demands our chief 
attention. During the weakness of the later Persian monarchy, 
the Satraps of Pontus, that is, the mountainous country along the 
north shore of the Euxine from the Halys eastward, had asserted 
their independence. In the wars between the successors of 
Alexander, the ruler of Pontus, Mithridates by name, raised his 
principality to a kingdom. His descendants extended their 
power over part of Cappadocia and Paphlagonia till Mithridates V., 
called Euergetes, assisted Rome in her war against Aristonicus, 
and was rewarded with a considerable portion of Phrygia. 
This Mithridates was assassinated at Sinope, his capital, about 
the year 120 B.C., and was succeeded by his son Mithridates VI., 
commonly called Dionysos or Eupator, who was then a boy of 
about twelve years old.f This was the man who became famous 
as the competitor of Rome for the sovereignty of the East. 

§ 2. In later times it was remembered that at his birth a comet 
blazed in the heavens so large in size as to reach from the zenith 
to the horizon, — a sign of his destined greatness. But during 
his boyhood the fates seemed adverse. The Senate revoked the 
gift conferred upon his father. His guardians attempted his 
life both by poison and the dagger ; but he escaped all perils 
marvellously. It was commonly believed that his constitution 
was enabled to defy the attacks of poison by the habitual use of 
antidotes. What education he received was given by Greek 
masters at Sinope. So excellent was his memory that he is said 
to have been master of five-and-twenty languages so as to be able 
to converse in their own tongue with all the tribes who composed 
his motley Empire. His appreciation of Hellenic superiority is 
attested by the employment of Greeks both for military and 
civil administration ; and his cultivated taste is disclosed by the 

* Sometimes called Proconsular Asia. Hence it is that persons, being 
already in Phrygia or Galatia, speak of going into Asia, as in the Acts of the 
Apostles, xvi. 6; compare xix. 22, 26, 21, <fec. 

f On his coins the name is spelt Mithradates. The Romans changed it, 
as -was their wont. So, for instance, MaaoaAia became in Latin Massilia, 
Maaaavioaac Massinissa, &o. 



Chap. LIX FIRST MITHRIDATIC WAR. 595 

artistical skill displayed in the execution of liis coins. The great 
silver piece figured at the head of this chapter is one of the most 
admirable medals that came from the ancient mints. He was 
fond of hunting in the mountains of Pontus, and thus obtained 
vigour of constitution, quickness of eye, and promptness of deci- 
sion. In all respects he stood far above the common run of 
Oriental despots. 

§ 3. When he undertook the government, he secured, himself 
at home by the murder of his nearest relatives. Finding his 
neighbours, Nicomedes of Bithynia and Ariarathes of Cappa- 
docia, secured by Roman protection, he sought scope for his 
military ambition in the North. There he formed an alliance 
with Parisades, King of Bosporus, as the eastern portion of the 
Crimea was then called, and assisted him in reducing the whole 
of that Peninsula to submission. At the death of Parisades, 
Mithridates took possession of the Crimea, and coins bearing his 
name are still found about Kertch and Kaffa. The whole eastern 
coast-land of the Euxine, known to the Greeks under the name 
of Colchis, as well as the country between the Kuban and the 
Borysthenes, owned liis sway. On the East he strengthened 
himself by alliance with Tigranes, King of Armenia, who married 
his daughter ; and having thus, in the course of about thirty 
years from his accession (120-90 e.g.), raised himself to the pos- 
session of a formidable Empire, he considered himself not unequal 
to a conflict with Rome herself. 

§ 4. So early as the year 93 b.c. the state of Cappadocia 
invited interference. Ariarathes married a sister of Mithridates, 
but was put to death by the agency of that monarch. Then fol- 
lowed a quarrel for Cappadocia between Mithridates and Nico- 
medes. Sylla was commissioned by the Senate to settle these 
disputes, and he restored Ariobarzanes, a nobleman of the 
country, whom his compatriots had chosen to succeed Aria- 
rathes, to the throne. For the time Mithridates submitted, but 
the arrogant language of Marius confirmed him in the resolution 
to make war Avith the proud Republic. 

§ 5. Two years later the Social War broke out. Mithridates 
availed himself of the opportunity afforded by the disturbances 
in the West to extend his own power in the East. Nicomedes 
of Bithynia was just dead, and the King of Pontus seized his 
kingdom ; while he induced his son-in-law Tigranes to invade 
Cappadocia, and expel Ariobarzanes for the second time. The 
Senate Avere too much occupied at home to attend to these pro- 
ceedings till late in the year 89 B.C., when M' Aquillius, the con- 
queror of the Slaves in Sicily, was sent to restore the son of 
Nicomedes to the throne of Bithynia, and Ariobarzanes to that 



596 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

of Cappadocia. Mittridates again yielded, and tlie fugitive Kings 
again took possession of tlieir thrones ; but Aquillius gave young 
Nicomedes to understand that a largess must be paid to those 
who had restored him, and urged him to raise the necessary 
money by an inroad into the dominions of the King of Pontus. 
Mithridates at once despatched envoys to Rome to make com- 
plaints of the conduct of the Senatorial Commissioner. 

§ 6. The Social War had now well-nigh spent its force, and 
the Senate dismissed the Pontic envoys without a satisfactory 
answer. Mithridates expected this result, and resolved to take 
the law into his own hands. His Generals, Archelans and Neop- 
tolemus, fell upon Nicomedes while he was plundering, and 
utterly defeated him. A similar fate befel Aquillius and other 
Roman officers who endeavoured to support the Bithynian King. 
Thus the road to the Roman Province lay open to Mithridates. 

Without hesitation he pushed forward at the head of his vic- 
torious troops. Almost everywhere his advent was welcomed as 
that of a deliverer. Aquillius sought shelter in Mytilene ; but 
the Lesbians delivered him up to Mithridates, who sent him 
round the cities of the Province seated upon an ass, with a 
proclamation stating that to his covetous dealing alone the war 
was due, and then put him to death by having molten gold 
poured down his throat. 

§ 7. To justify the character of Deliverer, Mithridates set free 
all prisoners of Asiatic race, excused men from military service 
for five years, remitted taxes due to the Roman Government, 
and cancelled a portion of private debts. All that Asiatic enthu- 
siasm could bestow of honour was heaped upon him. He was 
welcomed at the gates of every city by festal processions. He 
was saluted as the preserver of Asia, as Dionysos her present 
and protecting Deity. During the winter he took np his resi- 
dence at Pergamus, and celebrated his nuptials with a young 
Greek of Stratonicea. But while he seemed to be given up to 
enjoyment, an edict went forth to every city in the Province of 
Asia, ordering the people to massacre all Italians found within 
their borders. This savage order was obeyed with alacrity. On 
one day no less than 80,000 persons were slaughtered. 

§ 8. A wider field now opened itself to the ambition of Mithri- 
dates. Aristion, an Epicurean philosopher of Athens, persuaded 
the people of that famous city to rise against Rome, assumed 
sovereign power, and invited Mithridates to support the revolt. 
Archelaus, the King's best General, was despatched to Piraeeus 
at the head of a large force. Most of the Greek communities 
joined in the Athenian insurrection. Italians were everywhere 
massacred, as in Asia. 



Chap. LIX. FIRST MITHRIDATIC WAK 597 

§ 9. Sucli was tlie state of things wlieii Sylla landed in Epirus 
with about 50,000 men. He spent some time in ^tolia and 
Thessaly to collect supplies, and then, advancing to Athens, 
attempted to take Pirseeus by escalade ; but the "vvalls were the 
walls of Pericles, nearly 80 feet high, and regularly built of mas- 
sive stone. The rash attempt was repulsed, and the Roman 
General found it necessary to besiege the place in form. The 
stones of the Long Walls were used to form two great em- 
bankments sloping upwards against the walls. "When all was 
ready, two huge battering-towers were brought up these inclined 
planes, and began to play upon the walls ; but Archelaus baffled 
all the skill and industry of the Roman engineers, and repelled 
every assault. 

§ 10. Winter was now far spent; and Sylla, despairing of the 
capture of Pirseeus, unless he were able to invest it by sea as well 
as by land, sent Lucullus to Asia to collect ships for this purpose. 
While expecting his return, Sylla determined to employ his 
Avhole force in taking the city of Athens. During the siege of 
Piraseus, the blockade of the City, distant about five miles, had 
been steadily continued. Aristion and his courtiers lived in 
luxury : but the people were reduced to the extremity of famine ; 
and, but for the strength of the walls, they could have oflPered 
little resistance. After some time, a weak place was found, 
and the whole besieging army poured in. Sylla, enraged by the 
part taken by the Athenians, left the soldiery to wreak their 
passion on the miserable city. Aristion with a few troops had 
withdrawn into the Acropolis. But want of water soon obliged 
him to surrender at discretion. 

§ 11. Athens was taken on the 1st of March, 88 B.C.; and 
Sylla's whole force being now available, he determined to attempt 
a fresh assault upon Pirseeus, though Lucullus had not yet 
returned. Archelaus had been expecting succours sent through 
Boeotia under command of the King's son. But the young prince 
had died, and Taxiles, the general left in command, had halted in 
Thessaly. Archelaus, therefore, in despair of holding out, sailed 
to Thermopylae, where he joined Taxiles. Pirseeus now surren- 
dered, and Sylla avenged himself for his long disappointment 
by burning the dockyards and arsenals, and all the buildings of 
old historic fame in that celebrated place. 

§ 12. Meanwhile, Archelaus and Taxiles had advanced with 
their combined forces, in the hope of surprising Sylla within the 
confines of Attica. But the active Roman was in Boeotia before 
them, and Archelaus retreated towards the Euripus, closely 
followed by the Romans. The army of the Mithridatic Generals 
is stated at 100,000 men, with 10,000 horse and 90 scythed cars; 



598 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VL 

that of Sylla was reduced to 30,000 men, with a small body of 
cavalry. The armies met at Chaeronea, nearly on the same ground 
on which, two hundred and fifty years before, Philip of Macedon 
had overthrown the Athenian army, and made himself master of 
the liberties of Greece. A desperate conflict ensued, in which 
Sylla displayed more personal bravery than strategic skill. But 
the steady discipline of the Eoman Legionaries prevailed, and 
the battle ended in the complete overthrow of the Pontic army, 
Archelaus was not able to collect above 10,000 men out of that 
vast host, and with these he made good his retreat across the 
Euripus to Chalcis. The Roman loss was small. 

§ 13. After the battle of Chaeronea, Sylla heard that L. Valerius 
Flaccus, who had been sent to supersede himself in the command, 
had landed in Epirus. With his accustomed promptitude he at 
once marched northwards to meet him. But at Melitea he heard 
that Mithridates had sent Dorylaus with 80,000 men to reinforce 
Archelaus. Leaving Flaccus to work his will, Sylla returned 
rapidly to Orchomenus. The Pontic army lay southward of that 
place, on the edge of a plain very favourable for the action of their 
great force of cavalry. Archelaus used every effort to dissuade 
his new colleague from venturing another battle ; but Dorylaus 
was obstinate. The Romans gained another great victory, and 
Archelaus rallied but a small remnant of the Pontic army, with 
which he again made good his retreat to Chalcis. Bo3otia was 
now given up to plunder, and the Roman army passed into 
Thessaly for winter-quarters. 

§ 14. Meantime Valerius Flaccus had found his men more 
inclined to join Sylla than to fight him. Part of them, indeed, 
deserted ; the rest had been kept under their banners by the 
active exertions of his lieutenant, C. Flavins Fimbria, a daring 
and unscrupulous man, who had taken a foremost part in the 
massacres of Mai-ius.* To avoid a conflict with Sylla, Flaccus 
and Fimbria directed their march towards the Hellespont, with 
the intention of assailing Mithridates in Asia, where he had but 
a small force remaining. But when Flaccus crossed over from 
Byzantium to Chalcedon, Fimbria appealed to the army and 
was unanimously chosen to the command. The Consul instantly 
returned in high dudgeon ; but found that Fimbria was all 
powerful with the army, and fled across the Hellespont into Asia. 
Fimbria pursued him, and, disregardful of the consular dignity, 
ordered him to be beheaded. 

* " Hominem longe audacissimum . . et insanissimum." Cicero pro Sex. 
Roscio Amerino 12. He stabbed Q. Scsevola at the funeral of Marius, and 
presently brought an accusation against him, " because he -had not died of 
the wound." 



Chap. LIX. FIRST MITHRIDATIC WAR. 599 

§ 15. lu the spring of 85 B.C., Fimbria, liaving collected cod- 
sidei'able reinforcements, threw himself suddenly intd Asia, and 
advanced rapidly upon Pergamus. Surprised by this unexpected 
attack, Mithridates took refuge at Mytilene, where he was safe 
from the pursuit of Fimbria, who had no ships. But Lucullus, 
Avho had by this time collected a respectable fleet, was in the 
neighbourhood. He might easily have invested the island and 
terminated the war by possessing himself of the King's person. 
But, fearful of playing into the hands of Fimbria, he suflered 
Mithridates to escape to the mainland. 

§ 16. The presence of Fimbria was embarrassing to Sylla. His 
wife Caecilia Matella had escaped from Kome with her children, 
and urged the necessity of a speedy return to Italy. During the 
winter he had held a personal interview with Archelaus, in which 
that able officer proposed that Sylla should leave Asia in the 
King's possession, on condition that Mithridates should assist 
him in conquering his enemies at home. Sylla made no reply, 
except by offering to make Archelaus King of Pontus, on condi- 
tion that he should become the ally of Rome. Archelaus indig- 
nantly refused to break faith with his master; upon which Sylla 
quietly asked : " If treason seems so base to you, how dare you 
suggest treason to a Roman General?" The two commanders, 
however, continued to be good friends; and it was whispered 
that Archelaus had been won over by the gold or the persuasions 
of the adroit Roman. 

§ 17. The year 85 b.c, was passed by Sylla in Macedonia, 
^here he was detained by the necessity of subduing the bar- 
barous Tribes on the northern frontier of the Roman Province, 
who were probably urged on to attack him by the gold of Mith- 
ridates. But the successes of Fimbria in Asia inclined Sylla to 
peace. Mithridates also was well inclined to treat; for his 
fleet, hitherto master of the sea, had been utterly defeated by 
Lucullus off Tenedos, and the passage of the Hellespont was 
open to Sylla. After some preliminaries, Archelaus contrived a 
personal conference between the Roman General and the King. 
They met at Dardanus in the Troad, Avhen Sylla cut short all 
diplomatic arts by stating the least that he would accept; and 
Mithridates, an acute judge of character, gave Avay to the peremp- 
tory Roman. It was agreed that the King should abandon all 
his conquests in Asia, and resume the position in which he had 
been before the war. He was to pay 2000 talents to indemnify 
Rome for her expenses, and surrender a fine fleet of 70 sliips. 

§ 18. This settlement was made in the winter, and Mithridates 
withdrew to Sinope. Early in the next year (84 b.c.) Sylla ad- 
vanced against Fimbria, who had thrown himself into Thyatira, 



600 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

and began to draw lines of blockade round the place. Fimbria's 
men deserted in great numbers; and the reckless adventurer, 
perceiving that his case was desperate, fled to Pergamus, where 
he took refuge in the Temple of Esculapius, and attempted to 
put an end to himself. But the wound was not mortal ; and he 
was oT)liged to resort for this last service to a faithful slave, who 
slew himself upon his master's body. 

§ 19. It was now open to Sylla to return to Italy. He had in 
the course of three years completely humbled the powerful King 
of Pontus, and compelled him to accept a peace dictated by 
himself. The fourth year since his departure from Italy was 
now far spent. To supply money for his Italian enterprise, as 
well as to punish the Asiatics, he forced the Communities which 
had joined Mithridates to pay him very large sums of money. 
Of these sums, part paid down at once, Lucullus was left to exact 
the rest. This officer discharged his task with as much con- 
sideration and gentleness as possible. But to raise the money 
at all, the unfortunate Provincials were obliged to resort to 
Roman money-lenders, who advanced what they required at 
usurious interest. Murena was left in Asia with the troops of 
Fimbria, but received strict injunctions not to renew hostilities 
with Mithridates. Sylla set sail from Ephesus, and returned to 
Greece, where he spent the remainder of the year 84 B.C., engaged 
in active preparations for the invasion of Italy next spring. But 
before we follow him in his great adventure, it will be necessary 
to trace the fortunes of Cinna and his partisans at Rome. 




Coin. — Temple of Jupiter on Capitol, and head of Jupiter. 



CHAPTER LX. 



RETURN OF SYLLA : SECOND CIVIL WAR. (83, 82 B.C.) 

§ 1. Kome after the death of Marius. § 2. Cinna and Carbo, Consuls. 
Message from Sylla to the Senate : their reply. § 3. Death of Cinna : 
Carbo continues as sole Consul. § 4. Rejoinder of Sylla to the reply of 
the Senate. § 5. Seipio and Norbanus elected Consuls for 83 B.C. § 6. 
Agrarian Law. § 7. Enfranchisement of Freedmen. § 8. Sylla lands in 
Italy. § 9. Metellus Pius, Crassus, Pompey, join Sylla. § 10. Defeat 
of Worbanus and Seipio by SyUa. § 11. Pompey in Picenum. § 12. 
Efforts of Sylla and Carbo during the -winter : Carbo and young Marius. 
Consuls for 82 B.C.: fire in the Capitol. § 13. Position of the armies at 
the beginning of the next campaign. § 14. Battle of Sacriportus : yoimg 
Marius shut up in Prseneste. § 15. Massacre of Senators. § 16. SyUa 
enters Rome : attacks Carbo at Clusium : fails : advance of Samnites. 
§ 17. March of Sylla to cover Prseneste. § 18. Metellus and Pompey 
complete the conquest of Iforthern Italy. § 19. The Samnites advance 
upon Rome : Sylla foUo-ws : battle of Rome. § 20. Battle renewed next 
morning : total defeat of the Samnites. § 21. Death of young Marius : 
end of the "War. 

§ 1. After tlie deatli of Marius, Cinna remained absolute master 
of Rome. He had associated with himself in the Consulship 
L. Valerius Flaccus, — chiefly (as it seems) because that noble- 
man had been colleague of Marius in his sixth Consulship, 
Flaccus, as we have seen, was murdered by Fimbria. In the 
next year (85 B.C.) Cinna declared himself Consul for the third 
time, with Cn. Papirius Carbo. Sertorius was at the same time 
nominated to the Preetorship, with a promise of the government 
of the two Spains. 

26 



602 CIVIL "WARS : FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

§ 2. The year passed away quietly, and in 84 b.c. Cinna 
assumed the Consulship for the fourth time, again taking Carbo 
for his colleague. Tidings from the East made it plain that 
Sylla's return to Italy could not be long delayed, and the Con- 
suls determined to attack him in the East. While they were 
absent from Eome, envoys arrived with a message from Sylla 
himself to the Senate. In return for his services to the State 
" his enemies,^'' he said, " had placed him under ban ; his hotise 
had been rased to the ground, his friends massacred, his wife 
and children forced to flee." " Presently," he concluded, " I 
shall return to execute vengeance on the guilty. But be it 
understood that I intend not to interfere with the rights of any 
citizens, New or Old." The Senate were thrown into great per- 
plexity. They feared to offend Cinna, and yet wished to return 
a favourable answer to Sylla. At length it was agreed, on the 
Biotion of another L. Valerius Flaccus, Chief of the Senate, that 
they should propose " to mediate between Sylla and Jiis enemies, 
and to guarantee his personal safety if he would return to Rome." 
At the same time they mustered courage enough to order the 
Consuls to suspend their military preparations till Sylla's answer 
was received. 

§ 3. This order met with little respect. The Consuls had 
completed their preparations. An. army was assembled at 
Ancona, and transports were there collected to carry it across 
to Dalmatia. The first division was landed without diificulty. 
The second embarked, but was driven back to Italy by a storm ; 
whereupon the men dispersed, declaring that they would not 
make war upon fellow-citizens. Disaffection spread in the ranks 
of the troops that remained at Ancona ; and when Cinna called 
the leaders before his Tribunal, their gloomy looks portended 
mischief. At this moment one of his Lictors struck a soldier. 
The blow was returned, and a tumult arose. Cinna fell, struck 
by a stone, and was despatched by the swords of the soldiery. 

Such was the end of Cinna, a man who for three years had 
been absolute Lord of Rome. Elected to the Consulship at the 
critical moment when the Italian party had lost its leaders, he 
stepped into the vacant place. The course of events proved 
that he was not able to make a dexterous use of this fortunate 
chance. He died, disliked rather than detested by most men, 
regretted probably by none. 

His colleague Carbo, a man of considerable talents, continued 
sole Consul for the remainder of the year. He gave up all 
thoughts of crossing the sea. The troops who had already 
landed in Dalmatia were recalled, and preparations were made 
to carry on a defensive war within the limits of Italy. 



Chap. LX. RETURN OF SYLLA. 603 

§ 4. Meanwhile Sylla's reply arrived. "He could never," he 
said, " make terms with such men as the Marian leaders ; but 
if the Senate chose to spare their lives, he should not object. 
As to personal safety, he was in a condition to provide this for 
himself. As a preliminary he required immediate restoration of 
himself and his friends to all the property and honours of which 
they had been deprived." This haug-laty language enabled Carbo 
to carry a motion in the Senate for refusing to take the message 
into consideration. War on the soil of Italy was now inevitable. 

§ 5. To gain popularity Carbo thought it necessary to con- 
vene the Centuriate Assembly for the election of Consuls to 
succeed himself The choice of the voters fell on L. Scipio and C. 
Norbanus, both adherents of the Marian party, but men of little 
mark. It is probable that the rejection of the most able man of 
the party, Q. Sertorius, was due to the jealousy of Carbo, who, 
by the election of two feeble magistrates, himself retained all 
substantial power. 

To strengthen themselves yet more, and to secure a numerous 
party, devoted to themselves, the Marian leaders took the course 
which had been followed regularly since the time of the Gracchi, 
and brought forward two highly democratic measures : one an 
Agrarian law, the other a large extension of the Franchise. 

§ 6. The Agrarian law was moved by L. Junius Brutus, one 
of the Tribunes of the year, father of Caesar's murderer. By its 
provisions, the rich Public Lands of Campania, which had been 
reserved for purposes of revenue even by the Gracchi, were to 
be distributed to a number of needy citizens, — a number so large 
that Cicero characterises the measure as a transference of Rome 
to Capua. Young Cicero was himself residing at the latter place, 
when the duumviri appointed to execute the law arrived there. 
Crowds of expectants followed them, but their proceedings were 
cut short by the appearance of Sylla, and the law slumbered till 
it was re^aved twenty years later in the Consulship of Cicero 
himself* 

§ 7. By the second law it was proposed to extend the Roman 
Franchise to the mass of liberated slaves and adventurers, 
who had swelled the armies of Marius and Cinna. The rights 
of the new citizens had been expressly reserved by Sylla in 
his message, and therefore Carbo had nothing to offer to the 
Italians which they might not expect from his opponent. But 
by this bold measure he threw all power into the hands of a 
mob devoted to himself For the time, it answered. No serious 
attempt was made to thwart Carbo and his party till Sylla 
entered Rome. 

* Cicero de Lege Agr. ii. 33-35. 



(304 CIVIL WARS : FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

§ 8. During the winter of 84 b.c. Sylla had assembled in Greece 
the army destined for the invasion of Italy. It amounted to 
about 40,000 men, — a small force to oppose the 200,000 men 
who had been armed by Carbo. Sylla had some fears that 
his Italian soldiers might disperse as soon as they touched 
their native soil. But they gave the strongest proof of their 
fidelity by offering to contribute money to fill his military chest. 
He thanked the men for their off"er, but accepted only an oath 
that they would stand by him in his enterprise, and would 
refrain upon Italian soil from that license which in the East 
they had been suftered to indulge. Early in the following spring 
(83 B.C.) he embarked his whole force at Patrsee, and landed at 
Brundusium without opposition. 

§ 9. As soon as it was known that he had landed, several 
eminent persons, who had not joined him in Greece, repaired to 
his camp. Metellus Pius came to add the weight of his un- 
blemished name to the cause of the invader, and Sylla gave him 
a command commensurate with the dignity of Proconsul. Young 
Crassus, the future Triumvir, who had escaped from Fimbria's 
rufiians, when his father and elder brother were sacrificed, also 
came. Sylla desired him to repair to the Marsian valleys, where 
his family was influential, and to raise troops there for his ser- 
vice. The cautious youth asked for a guard. "I give you," 
said Sylla, " your father, your brother, and your friends, whose 
murder I am come to avenge." Before this, a young man, 
destined to be the chief of Rome, had of his own accord begun 
to levy troops for Sylla in the neighbouring district of Picenum. 
This was Cn. Pompeius, son of the Proconsul Pompeius Strabo, 
who died during the siege of Rome. After that event the youth 
had remained at Rome. When Sylla landed, young Pompey was 
but three-and-twenty ; but from the school-room he had gone 
into the camp ; his father's long command in Picenum, with his 
own popular manners and soldier-like bearing, secured him the 
favour of the • country people of that place, and he soon found 
himself at the head of a considerable force. 

§ 10. The Consuls made no attempt to arrest the progress of 
the enemy in Lower Italy. Sylla passed quietly along the Ap- 
pian Way into Apulia, The Consul Norbanus had taken post 
before Capua, while his colleague, Scipio, nearer Rome, watched 
the Latin Way. Sylla directed his march across the Apennines, 
probably by the gap to the West of Venusia, into Campania. 

As he advanced, he took care everywhere to conciliate the 
people.^ His soldiers, mindful of their oath, observed strict 
order : no injury was done to lands or buildings, men or women. 
He came siiddenly upon the camp of Norbanus ; and in the battle 



Chap. LX, RETURN OF SYLLA, 605 

■svliioh followed liis veterans gained an easy victory. Norbanus, 
with liis shattered army, sought refuge in Capua. 

Leaving him there unmolested, Sylla marched rapidly towards 
Rome to intercept Scipio. At Teanum the two armies met, 
and Sylla proposed an armistice in the hope (he said) of coming 
to an amicable settlement. Sertorius, who was serving as a 
Legate in Scipio's army, strongly dissuaded his chief from lis- 
tening to such a proposal, knowing that "in Sylla," as Carbo 
used to say, "they had to contend with one who was as much 
fox as lion." But it was not till too late that the Consul per- 
ceived that he had been tricked, and suddenly broke off negotia- 
tions. His army, however, was disafiected": persuasion and 
bribery had done their work. When Sylla appeared before the 
camp, he was joined by Scipio's whole force. The Consul and 
his son were surprised in their tents. But it was Sylla's policy 
to appear humane, and the prisoners were dismissed unhurt. 
Sertorius escaped ; but despairing of a cause in which the leaders 
were so incapable, he left Italy and repaired to the government 
of Spain, which had lately been conferred upon him by Carbo. 
There we shall hear of him hereafter. 

Sylla now returned to Capua, where he endeavoured to beguile 
the Consul Norbanus into submission. But that place was full 
of needy Romans, expecting their portions of the Public Land of 
Capua, — and the Marian party was completely in the ascendant. 
As Sylla had no means of besieging the place, he was compelled 
to content himself with ravaging the lands of his adversaries. 

§ 11. Meanwhile, young Pompey had been assailed in Picenum 
at three points by three Marian officers who had been detached 
by Carbo to crush him. He now gave the first sample of that 
military genius which presently afterwards raised him to be the 
first General of Rome, and succeeded in baffling all attacks, till 
Sylla himself hastened to his relief. On his approach the enemy 
dispersed ; and Pompey rode into Sylla's camp to ofi'er, not his 
single sword, but an army raised by his unassisted efforts. He 
appeared before Sylla to salute him as Imperator ; but the 
General, rising from his chair of state, greeted the young ofiicer 
by the same honourable title. 

§ 12. The remainder of the year was spent by Sylla in estab- 
lishing the influence of his party among the Italians of Central 
Italy. Money was freely lavished. The rights of citizenship 
conferred by Cinna were confirmed. To mark his confidence in 
the issue of the conflict, Sylla ostentatiously adjourned certain 
law proceedings, till the time when he could deliver judgment 
in the Roman Forum. 

Nor was Carbo idle. The failure of the Consuls Norbanus 



606 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

and Scipio had restored liis influence at Kome, He was elected 
Consul for tlie third time' and with him was associated young 
Marius, a youth who counted but twenty-seven years, and had 
not yet served any of the subordinate ofiices required by law. 
This young man seems to have possessed all the ferocity of his 
father, without his skill in war. But it was hoped that his name 
might work like a spell upon the memory of the Italians. Rome 
was every day more deserted, and Sylla's camp more thronged 
by men of rank and station. A terrible fire broke out in the 
Capitol, and burnt its august temples to the ground. Some 
attributed the fire to Carbo, some to Sylla. It was no doubt 
accidental, but its eff"ect was sinister to the party in possession 
of the government. 

§ 13. So soon as the weather permitted (82 b.c), hostilities 
were resumed. Sylla stationed himself in the Latin town of Setia. 
Metellus Pius took the chief command in Umbria, supported by 
Pompey and Crassus in Picenum and the Marsian country. 

Carbo stationed himself in an entrenched camp at Clusium on 
the Clanis, whence he sent forth armies under his lieutenants to 
combat the enemy, and collected reserves to support them. 
Young Marius fixed his head-quarters at the strong city of 
Prseneste, to which he carried all the gold deposited in the 
Treasury of Rome. 

§ 14. The campaign opened by the advance of young Marius 
towards Setia, at the head of 40,000 men. When he came in 
sight of Sylla's army, he fell back to Signia. Sylla followed to a 
place called Sacriportus; and here a desperate conflict ensued, 
which remained doubtful, till five cohorts of the army of Marius 
threw down their standards and passed over to the enemy. Then 
the whole line broke and fled to Prseneste. So hotly were they 
pursued, that the Prsenestines, feai'ing lest Sylla's men might 
press into the city together with the fugitives, closed the gates. 
Marius himself was drawn up within the walls by a rope ; but of 
his soldiers, not less than 20,000 were cut down by the enemy, and 
8000 taken prisoners. Among them were found some of Samnite 
race, who were instantly butchered in cold blood. 

§ 15. By the battle of Sacriportus Marius Avas reduced to act 
on the defensive for the rest of the campaign. He perceived 
that Rome now lay open to the conquerors, but with the true 
instinct of his race he determined to anticipate their triumphal 
entrance by a deed of blood. Scarcely had he entered Prseneste, 
when he despatched a confidential messenger, ordering L. Dama- 
sippus, the Prsetor left in command of the city, to put to death 
all who remained there of the friends of Sylla. Damasippus was 
a fit instrument for such cruelty. He summoned the relics of 



Chap. LX. RETURN OF SYLLA. 607 

tlie Senate to meet as if for business, and at a given signal a 
band of assassins rushed in to massacre. Then perished L. An- 
tistius, L. Domitius, and C. Carbo, the Consul's brother. The 
aged Pontifex, P. Mucins Scaevola, Avho had once been saved 
from the sword of Fimbria, escaped to the Temple of Vesta; 
but here he was overtaken and ruthlessly cut down. The bodies 
of all who thus fell were dragged through the streets, and thrown 
into the Tiber ; for " it had become an established custom," 
says Appian, " not to bury the victims of party strife." 

§ 16. This butchery Avas hardly finished, when the van of 
Sylla's army appeared on the road leading from Prseneste. Dama- 
sippus fled precipitately by the road leading to Etruria, while 
Sylla, lea\'ing his troops in the Campus Martins, entered the 
City. But he did not loiter there. Leaving a strong detachment 
under the command of Lucretius Ofella, an old Marian officer 
Avho had joined him, to mask Prseneste, he resolved to march 
straight up the Clanis and attack Carbo. He found the Consul's 
camp so strongly defended, that it was almost impregnable. But 
at this moment news reached Sylla from the South of an alarming 
character. The Samnites and Lucanians had hitherto held aloof 
from the strife, w^ell pleased to see their Roman masters worn 
out by mutual conflict. They had no wish for the triumph of 
either party ; but if one must prevail, that one must not be 
Sylla. A body of Samnites had joined Marius before the battle 
of Sacriportus. And now it Avas reported that a large army of 
the brave mountaineers, under C. Pontius of Telesia, — a name 
which recalled the memory of one of the gloomiest days in the 
Roman annals, — a force of Lucanians under T. Lamp.onius, and a 
division of Campanians under Albius Gutta, were in full march 
towards Pra^neste. 

§ 17. In this emergency, Sylla chose the boldest course, and 
threw himself against the strong entrenchments of Carbo. From 
morning to evening he renewed his desperate assaults, but in 
vain. Nor did he dare to weaken his army further by renewing 
the attack the next day. It was necessary, at all hazards, to seize 
the passes which led from the mountains into Latium, before 
the Samnites gained them, and Sylla commenced a rapid march 
southward, Avhile the enemy were advancing towards Prasneste. 
It was a race for empire between the Roman and the Samnite. 
It was Avon by Sylla. When Pontius reached the passes which 
led down from the mountains to Prasneste, he had the mortifica- 
tion to find them already occupied by the Roman General, who 
was soon after joined by young Crassus at the head of his Mar- 
rian recruits. 

§18. In this position things remained for some time, Sylla 



608 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

and Pontius each watching liis opportunity. But in the North, 
the vigor of Sylla's lieutenants brought the war in that quarter 
to an unexpected conclusion. 

Metellus had taken ship from Ancona, and landed at Eavenna, 
whence he advanced to Placentia, so as to intercept Carbo's com- 
munications with Cisalpine Gaul. The Consul, roused to action 
by this bold movement, crossed the Apennines and attacked the 
camp of the enemy near Placentia. He was repulsed with great 
loss ; and so large a number of his remaining force deserted, 
that he returned to Etruria with only 1000 men. A series of 
disasters followed. M. Licinius Lucullus, an officer of Metellus, 
cut to pieces a detachment of Marian troops. C. Verres, the 
Consul's Quaestor, began his infamous life by deserting to the 
enemy with the military chest in his possession. Albinovanus, 
one of the oldest of the Marian party, seeing the cause to be 
desperate, offered to desert ; and Sylla promised to receive him 
if he would do something worthy of favour. To execute this 
suggestion he invited his brother officers to a banquet, and, at a 
given signal, a body of ruffians rushed in and massacred the 
guests. Carbo's army at Clusium still numbered 30,000 men ; 
but, thrown into despair by these disasters, he departed by night 
and took ship for Africa, where for a time he succeeded in rally- 
ing the remains of the Marian party. Pompey attacked the 
camp at Clusium. The men, though deserted by their commander, 
still made a desperate defence, and it was not till two-thirds of 
their number had fallen that their lines were forced. Even then 
a considerable force marched southward in the hope of joining 
the Samnites. 

§ 19. Pontius and Lamponius, informed of their advance, con- 
trived to elude the vigilance of Sylla, and effected a junction with 
the shattered relics of Carbo's great army. Thus united, the 
enemy poured down the Tiburtine road to Rome, and encamped 
at nightfall before the Colline Gate. It was the last day of 
October by the Roman calendar (probably our 23rd of August), 
of the year 82 n.e. The adherents of Sylla in the city passed 
the night in an agony of fear ; and the most devoted adherents 
of Marius might have trembled at the thought that next day 
Rome would in all likelihood fall into the hands of her most 
inveterate foes. At daybreak Pontius addressed his men. 
" Rome's last day," he said, " was come. The Avolves that had 
so long preyed upon Italy would never cease from troubling 
till their lair was utterly destroyed." But, as the assault began, 
on the Prsenestine road appeared a large body of horse. Pontius 
well knew that they were the advanced guard of Sylla's army, 
and he prepared for battle. It was past noon ; Sylla's troops 



Chap. LX. RETURN OF SYLLA. 609 

■wci'c exhausted by a rapid march, but he ordered an immediate 
attack. The left "sving-, commanded by himself, Tested upon 
the Agger of Servius, and was oj^posed to the Samnites, Avhilo 
Crassus, Avho commanded the right wing, was opposed to the 
relics of Carbo's army. Sylla rode a Avhite horse, and was in the 
thick of the fight, the mark of every javelin. He exerted himself 
to the utmost, but in vain. When night closed he had been forced 
back against the walls, and it seemed as if nothing remained for 
his brave veterans but to sell their lives dearly next morning. 

§ 20. But when he was awaiting the dawn of day in an agony 
of suspense, he was surprised by a message from Crassus to an- 
nounce that on his side he had been completely successful, and 
had pursued the routed enemy to Antemnse, a place just below the 
junction of the Anio and Tiber. His joy may be imagined. With 
prompt dexterity he contrived to join Crassus at Antemnae,, 
and at daybreak the battle was renewed. It was not till 50,000 
men on both sides had fallen that victory declared for Sylla. 
Among the slain was found the brave Pontius, still breathing, 
with a look of triumph in his eye. All Roman officers taken 
prisoners were at once put to death. Their heads, with those 
of the Italiati leaders, were sent to Ofella, who paraded them 
on spear-heads round the walls of Prseneste. Of the com- 
mon sort about 8000 were taken, of whom 6000 were Sam- 
nites. Sylla at once summoned the Senate to meet in the 
Temple of Bellona, outside the walls, having ordered the Sam- 
nite prisoners to be taken to the Circus Flaminius, which lay 
hard by. As the Senate were proceeding to business, cries of 
death were heard, and those who were not in Sylla's confidence 
rose in alarm. "Be seated," said he; "what you hear need not 
trouble you. It is but some wretches undergoing punishment 
by my order." The GOOO Samnites were all massacred. 

§ 21. The battle of Rome ended the war. Marius attempted 
a sally from Praeneste, but Avas repulsed Avitli loss; and finding 
his case desperate,, endeavoured to escape by a subterranean 
passage in company Avith a younger brother of the braA'e Pon- 
tius. Finding the passage obstructed, they agreed to kill one 
another. . Pontius received the point of his friend's SAVord, and 
fell dead : Marius, being only wounded, caused a slave who had 
attended them to despatch him. Praeneste was then surrendered 
to the conqueror. Rome, Italy, and the World lay at his feet, 
and men waited Avith trembling expectation the announcement 
of his Avill. 

26* 







Tomb near Alba. 



CHAPTER LXI. 

sylla's dictatobship and death. (82 78 B.C.) 

§ 1. Sylla's return : his rage against the memory of Marius. § 2. Proscription. 
§ 3. Scenes in Italian cities. § 4. Sylla Perpetual Dictator. § 5. His 
absolute power : control of elections. § 6. Mitbridatic Triumph. § 1. 
New Constitution. § 8. Sale of property of the Proscribed. § 9. Military 
colonies. § 10. Changes in the Register of Citizens. § 11. Power of 
Tribunes reduced to nothing. § 12. All real power entrusted to Senate. 
§ 13. Laws for tenure of Magistracies, for Judicial bodies. § 14. Tendency 
of Sylla's legislation. §15. Criminal legislation. § 16. His increasing 
moderation: Pompey and Caesar. § lY. Cicero's defence of Sext. Roscius. 
§ 18. Sylla resigns dictatorship. § 19. Quiet state of Rome and provinces, 
except Spain. § 20. Sylla retires to Puteoli. § 21. Death of Sylla. 
§ 22. His character. 

§ 1. Presently after his second entrance into the City, Sylla 
addressed the People in a set speech, holding out promises to the 
obedient, and to the disobedie-nt threats. But for his declared 
enemies no hopes were left : all were doomed to death who had 



Chap. LXI. DICTATORSHIP OF SYLLA. OH 

taken any part publicly against him since the clay on which the 
Consul Scipio broke off the armistice at Teanum. The memory 
of Marius excited in Sylla's breast passions absolutely ferocious. 
The trophies upon the Capitol, recording the African and Cimbrian 
triumphs, were destroyed ; the ashes of the old General were 
torn from their sepulchre near the Anio, and scattered in the 
stream. L. Sergius Catilina, afterwards notorious, sought to win 
the conqueror's favour by seizing the person of M. Marius Gra- 
tidianus, a nephew of the old hero by adoption. Catiline calcu- 
lated justly. By Sylla's order the unoffending prisoner was carried 
to the tomb of Catulus, and there his eyes were plucked out, 
limb severed from limb, and death delayed Avith horrid ingenuity. 
A Senator, who fainted at the cruel sight, was slain upon the spot 
for showing sympathy with a Marius. Soon afterAvards Ofella 
sent the head of the old General's son to Rome. Sylla, with grim 
delight, gazed on the youthful face, and said : — "Those who take 
the helm should first serve at the oar." Now, he said, his fortune 
was accomplished; and henceforth Ke took the name of Felix.* 

§ 2. Every hour was marked by slaughters. Some who had 
taken no part in the war were put to death, and no one knew 
Avhether he was safe. At length a formal list of the doomed 
was made out and published ; and this was what Avas properly 
called the Proscription. But even then the uncertainty remained. 
The first list of eighty names Avas followed by a second of one 
hundred and twenty ; and each succeeding day produced a horrid 
supplement. To make the sentence sure, a price of two talents 
Avas set on the head of every proscribed person ; and this sum 
was paid alike to the slaA'e who sIcav his master or the son who 
murdered his OAvn father. All Avho harboured the proscribed, 
or fa\'oured their escape, became liable to their fate ; and Avives 
were found heartless enough to refuse shelter to their husbands. 
But Avhat most gave security for vengeance was the knoAvledge 
that the property of these unhappy men was to be confiscated 
to reward the zealous agents of the conqueror. Those who 
coveted the possessions of others contrived to have their names 
placed on the Proscription-lists. Here again Catiline bore 
away the palm of iniquity. He sought to legalise a murder he 
had committed, by having the name of his victim placed upon 
the proscribed list ; and that victim was his own brother. The 
heads of the slain were placed in the hall of Sylla's house. 

§ 3. These scenes of terror were not confined to Rome. At 
Praeneste Sylla took his seat on the Tribunal. All who could 

* In letters to Greek communities be translated this by Epaphroditus, the 
favourite of Venus. Venus Victrix, tbe goddess of pleasure and of fortune, 
APas tbe common device upon bis coins. 



612 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

prove that they had been against the Marians, — a small minority, 
— were ordered to , stand aside. The remainder were divided 
into two classes. Citizens of Rome constituted the first ; the 
second was made up of the Prsenestines themselves and their 
Samnite allies. The Romans he addressed with great severity, 
but ended by sparing the lives which had (he said) been justly 
forfeited. The Praenestines and Samnites were ruthlessly shot 
down. The women and children alone were spared. The town 
was given iip to be plundered by the soldiery. Norba, a Latin 
town, which still held out, was betrayed ; the greater part of its 
inhabitants, warned by the fate of the Praenestines, set fire to 
their city and sought a voluntary death. Nola was still held by 
the same gallant Samnites whom Sylla had left unconquered 
before the Mithridatic war : nor did it now fall without an obsti- 
nate defence. To all cities which had taken part with the 
Marians the Proscription was extended, and the same direful 
scenes were repeated in each place. There also, as at Rome, 
the lust for other men's property swelled the numbers of the 
slain. It was chiefly the rich who were sought after ; the poorer 
sort, however guilty, were neglected. 

§ 4. All this was done without any semblance of legal autho- 
rity. There was in fact no executive government in existence. 
Sylla himself, by entering the city, had lost his Proconsular 
dignity. One Consul, young Marius, had died at Prseneste. The 
fate of his colleague Carbo may be shortly told. It has been 
said that he crossed over into Africa. Here he assembled a 
considerable force and returned to Sicily, and Pompey was 
despatched thither to arrest his progress. Carbo endeavoured 
again to make his escape to Africa ; but he was brought back in 
chains to Pompey, and his head was sent to Rome. 

Yet by conquest Sylla held supreme authority. The Senate 
obeyed him in all matters, and set up an equestrian statue to him, 
Avith the inscription Cornelio Sullae, Imperatori, Felici. He 
desired however to have some definite power, and represented to 
the Senate that it would be proper to appoint an Interrex. They 
at once named that L. Valerius Flaccus, who had already signal- 
ised his attachment to the cause of Sylla ; and this man, having 
assembled the Centuries, read to them a letter from Sylla, in 
which he stated that he deemed it expedient to revert to the 
ancient ofiice of Dictator (which had been in abeyance since the 
Second Punic War for a period of 120 years) ; whoever was named, 
ought to be named not according to the old rule for six months, 
but till he should have succeeded in restoring order to the Empire. 
No one could doubt who was the person thus designated. But 
Sylla disdained innuendoes, and added that " for the services 



Chap. LXI. DICTATORSHIP OF SYLLA. 613 

demanded of the Dictator lie thought himself fittest to be 
chosen." The terms of this imperial mandate were echoed in 
the bill introduced by the Interrex. By that Valerian Law, all 
Sylla's acts in the East and in- Italy Avere confirmed : he was 
declared Dictator for so long as he judged fit; and was in 
express terms authorised to make laws, to put citizens to death, 
to confiscate property and distribute public lands, to destroy 
old colonies and to found new, to transfer the sceptres of de- 
pendent monarchs from one claimant to another. More abso- 
lute powers were never entrusted to one m^ by a formal act of 
law. 

§ 5. Sylla at once assumed his office. He appointed Flaccus 
his Master of Horse. He appeared in public with four-and- 
twenty Lictors, and was besides surrounded by a body-guard. 
But at the same time he gave proof that he had no intention of 
superseding the old forms of the Constitution : for he smmiioned 
the Comitia for the election of Consuls, intimating, however, 
that no one was to appear as Candidate except by his permission. 
And what he said he meant. Lucretius Ofella, presuming on 
his services at Prseneste, entered the Forum as a Candidate, 
while the Dictator was seated on his Chair of State before the 
Temple of the Dioscuri. Sylla at once ordered a centurion of 
his guard to cut down Ofella. After this, it may be presumed 
that Candidates were not eager to thrust forward their claims 
upon public notice. And to prevent any show of independence 
in the Centuries, he made use of a terrible apologue : — " A hus- 
bandman, " he said, " was troubled with vermin. Twice he shook 
his tunic ; but they continued to annoy him, and the third time 
he burnt it. Let those," he added, " who had twice been con- 
quered by arms, beware of fire the third time." The persons 
elected were mere cyphers, who served to give a name to the year. 

§ 6. Early in the following year he celebrated a splendid 
Triumph for his successes in the Mithridatic War. The obe- 
dient Senate suspended the old rule by which a General who had 
once entered the City forfeited all claim to a Triumph ; and two 
days in tlie last week of January (81 b.c,) were devoted to the 
spectacle. The first day Avas occupied by a long procession of 
captives and treasure defiling through the City. On the second, 
the Dictator himself ascended to the Capitol, preceded by his 
veterans, and followed by a crowd of Senators and Nobles, wear- 
ing chaplets in token that they acknowledged Sylla as their 
saviour. Large sums of money were paid into the Treasury. 
Splendid spectacles followed. Greece was obliged to suspend her 
Olympian games, that her athletes and trained combatants might 
exhibit their skill and strength before the Roman People. Young 



614 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

men of the noblest family, contrary to old custom, did not 
disdain to drive chariots at these games. 

§ Y. Sylla now threw himself into the true work of his Dicta- 
torship, and proceeded to issue' a series of Laws hy which the 
Constitution of Rome was entirely remodelled. 

§ 8. His first measure confirmed the Proscription. He had 
cleared the stage of all antagonists ; and he now ordained that 
all the families of the Proscribed were to be deprived for ever of 
their civic rights. The second measure to gain this end was 
more efficacious : he ordained that all their property should be 
sold by public auction, and the sums received placed to the 
public account. 

Even if this sale had been fairly conducted, the Treasury 
would have received far less than the value of the property sold. 
But the sale was not fairly conducted. The auction was held 
before the Dictator's chair. His favourites were the chief bidders ; 
and if persons unconnected with his party ventured to enter the 
lists against them, he broke out into angry menace. So little did 
he regard appearances, that he used to talk of selling his "booty." 
Often he remitted payment altogether ; at other times he be- 
stowed what ought to have been sold upon his wife Csecilia, 
upon his mistresses or freedmen, upon favourite actors, dancers, 
and musicians. In one case, made familiar to us by a speech of 
Cicero, Chrysogonus, a favoured freedman, caused a wealthy citizen 
to be murdered, and took possession of his goods, though the 
man was not on the Proscription-list, and though the time pre- 
scribed in the law for the sale of confiscated property had gone 
by.* The spirit in which the sales were conducted appears from 
a story preserved by Cicero. A sorry poet handed an epigram 
to the Dictator as he was presiding over the auction. Sylla 
laughed, and ordered that the man should have a sum of money 
from the proceeds of the sale then in progress, — on condition 
that he should write no more poetry .f The measures thus en- 
forced at Rome were executed with the same undeviating rigour 
in every town of the Italian Peninsula. 

§ 9. But of the confiscated lands of the disaffected towns 
great part was not sold at all. These reserved lands were des- 
tined to reward Sylla's soldiery, and by their means to create a 
new constituency for the Comitia. At least 150,000 men who 
had served under Sylla or his lieutenants in the East and in Italy 
received allotments. Legions, or parts of Legions, were settled 
in old Italian towns, and became citizens of those places, interested 
by the nature of their title in upholding the Dictator's measures. 
The disbanded veterans of Cromwell's army were, it is said, 
* Pro 8ext. Roscio Amerino, 43 — 45 f Pro Archid Poetd, c. 10. 



Chap. LXI. DICTATORSHIP OF SYLLA. 615 

the most industrious, orderly, and useful citizens of the towns 
to which they retired. It was tar otherwise with the licensed 
soldiery of Sylla. They wasted their newly-acquired property 
in riotous living ; the Cornelian soldiers became the terror and 
disgrace of their neighbourhood, and in after times supplied the 
ready instruments of sedition to Catiline and Clodius. 

From this time forth, the depopulation of Italy proceeded 
rapidly. From this time forth, may be dated the decay of distinct 
nationality in the several districts of the Italian Peninsula. 
Parts of Samnium and Lower Etruria became almost desolate. 
Apulia was given np to shepherds. From this time forth also, a 
common language began to prevail throughout the country towns 
of Italy. The disbanded soldiery had all learned to speak a 
species of Latin, and, in all the towns in which they settled, they 
mingled with the relics of the old population, and introduced a 
general use of this language. 

§ 10. Having disposed in this smnmary fashion of the pro- 
perty confiscated by the Proscription, the Dictator proceeded to 
mould anew the Political Constitution of Rome. 

The Italians and others who had received the suffrage were 
left in possession of their right, unless they had taken part 
with the Marians in the late war, — an exception which was 
, probably more comprehensive than the rule. To secure personal 
influence in the Tribes, Sylla selected from among the slaves of 
the Proscribed 10,000 of the youngest and most active men, 
and by a stroke made them Citizens of Rome. All the men 
thus enfranchised considered themselves as Freedmen of the 
Dictator, and assumed his name. These Cornelii proved a 
strong support of the Syllan Constitution in the years that 
followed. 

§ 11. But while he thus filled the ranks of the Tribes with his 
creatures, he took away from the Tribes all real and substantive 
authority. He ordained that Candidates for the Tribunate 
should necessarily be Members of the Senate ; that no one who 
had been Tribune should be capable of holding any curule office ; 
that no Tribune should have power to propose a Law to the 
Tribes ; and lastly, that the right of Intercession should be 
limited to its original purpose, that is, that it should not be 
available to stop Decrees of the Senate, or Laws brought before 
the Senate, but only to protect the personal liberty of Citizens 
from the arbitrary power of the Higher Magistrates. The Tri- 
bunes were thus effectually shackled, and their power returned 
to the low condition in which it had been during the earlier 
period of its existence. 

These measures restored Legislation to the Centuriate As- 



616 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

sembly, from whicli of late years it had passed away. But here 
also Sylla ordained that the old rule should be strictly enforced, 
by which no measure could be submitted to either of the Popular 
Assemblies till first it had received the sanction of the Senate. 
Thus the Assembly of the Centuries was placed under the direct 
control of that Council. 

§ 12. The crowning work of his Political Reforms was the re- 
constitution of the Senate. Its numbers had been greatly 
thinned by war, massacre, and proscription. To fill up its ranks 
to the old complement of Three Hundred, he first named the 
wealthiest and most dignified of his own adherents. A large 
proportion of these were taken from the Knights, and he thus 
detached from that Order a number of its most influential, mem- 
bers. Some members who obtained seats had begun service 
with Sylla as common soldiers, and were devoted to his interests. 
The number of Quaestors was at the same time raised to twenty, 
so that, for the future, members would never be wanting to 
supply vacancies. Sylla did not employ Censors to make out 
the list in due form ; indeed, he tacitly abolished the Censorial 
oflSce. • The last Censors had held office in the year 86 e.g.; 
the next belong to the year 70 e.g., in which the most im- 
portant of Sylla's political regulations were set aside. 

§ 13. With respect to the Magistracies, Sylla ordained that 
there should be twenty Quaestors instead of eight, and that ' 
there should be eight Praetors instead of six. He also required 
the strict observance of the Lex Annalis. Every one who aspired 
to the Consulship was compelled to go through all the inferior 
grades with fixed intervals between each. As in every succeeding 
year the costly spectacles expected by the People became more 
costly, these offices were more efli"ectually than ever confined to a 
limited number of old families ; and for a New Man to obtain 
the highest offices became more difficult than ever. 

It was not to be expected that Sylla would leave the Judicial 
power, as C. Gracchus had placed it, in the hands of the Knights. 
There had been a constant struggle to deprive them of it, and 
Sylla now at once restored this power absolutely to the Senate. 
Thus once more the Senators became the judges of their own 
Order. Of all the Laws of Sylla there Avas none of which the 
repeal was more loudly demanded than this. 

§ 14. Sach were the chief Political measures of the Dictator. 
Their general purpose was to restore the Constitution to its state 
before the time of the Gracchi. It was still a Republic in outward 
form, but in reality a close Oligarchy. The Popular Assemblies 
still existed, but were made completely dependent upon the 
Senate. That body, composed chiefly of those who could win 



Chap. LXI. DICTATORSHIP OF SYLLA. 617 

the votes of the People by bribing freely, and by exhibiting costly 
shows, monopolized all the powers of the State. 

§ 15. A number of other Cornelian Laws preserved the Dic- 
tator's name. One defined more clearly the Law of Treason 
against the M.ajesty of the Republic, originally passed by the 
Tribune Saturninus. In the Tribune's mouth, the Majesty of 
the Republic meant the Majesty of the People ; in Sylla's mouth, 
it meant the Majesty of the Senate ; under Tiberius and his 
successors, it was taken to mean the Majesty of the Emperor's 
person. But, if Sylla's political ordinances were framed in a 
jealous and exclusive spirit, his Criminal Legislation was Avell 
calculated to repress the disorders consequent upon the Civil 
Wars. The crime of assassination was sternly checked ; and the 
Dictator's Criminal Code long survived his political measures. 

§ 16. In the next year (80 b. c.) the Dictator condescended to 
fill the Consulship in company with Metellus Pius ; but in the 
following year (79 B.C.) in obedience to his own law he declined 
to submit his name to the Comitia. Generally speaking, it may 
be said that his government became more lenient, but he was 
perfectly indifferent to justice in awarding public honours. 
L. Licinius Murena, his lieutenant in Asia, invaded the dominions 
of Mithridates in spite of strict injunctions to the contrary, till 
orders fi'ora home put an end to what was called the Second 
Mithridatic War. On his return to Rome, Murena claimed a 
triumph, and his claim was allowed by the careless indulgence 
of the Dictator. But when Pompey, returning victorious from 
Sicily and Afi'ica, also claimed a triumph, Sylla refused the 
claim. The young General not yet twenty-five years of age, had 
filled no office of State ; and the Dictator, who was anxious to 
restore the old regulations of the Republic, attempted to satisfy 
Pompey's ambitious aspirations by saluting him by the name of 
Magnus. Pompey, however, was obstinate : his army was en- 
camped outside the walls ; and Sylla, not choosing the risk of 
a possible struggle with the rising General, gave a contemptuous 
permission. "Well then, let him triumph." To crush the 
Marian party effectually, he had ordered all persons connected 
with it by marriage to divorce their wives. Pompey, who had 
married Antistia from policy rather than aftection, readily 
obeyed ; and married JEmilia, daugjiter of the Dictator's wife by 
her first marriao-e. But there was another young man who was 
less compliant. This was C. Julius Caesar, then a youth in his 
19th year. He had married Cornelia, daughter of Cinna ; and 
he boldly refused to put away his wife. Caesar was not only 
son-in-law of Cinna, but also nephew of Marius ; and this refusal 
would have cost him his life, had not powerful friends and 



618 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. 

kinsmen interceded for liim with the Dictator. " You know not 
what you ask," replied the Dictator ; " that profligate boy will 
be more dangerous than many Mariuses." Caisar was allowed 
to escape, but was for some time obliged to skulk in fear of his 
life among the Sabine mountains. 

§ IV. Another circumstance more strongly shows the greater 
leniency of the Dictator. Young Cicero, who was of the same 
age as Pompey, had returned from his academical studies in 
Greece; and in the year 81 e.g. commenced that brilliant career 
which made him one of the great men of Rome. His first known 
oration, for P. Quinctius, contains little of public interest. But 
his second was in favour of Sext. Roscius of Ameria, a young man 
Avho was accused by a notorious informer of having mur- 
dered his own father ; whereas the guilty person was Chryso- 
gonus, Sylla's favourite Freedman. Young Cicero undertook 
the defence ; and the boldness with which he conducted it is 
quite as remarkable as the skill. Cicero lashed the favourite 
with all the vigour and energy of youthful eloquence, while he 
dexterously excuses Sylla from all share in the blame, by a 
compliment which is almost blasphemous. " As Jupiter," he 
said, " is obliged to allow the existence of pain and suffering in 
the universe, so Sylla cannot be so ubiquitous as to see his will 
executed everywhere and always." The jury, composed of 
Senators though it was, took part against the Dictator's Freed- 
man, and Roscius was acquitted. It must be observed, however, 
that Cicero returned to his studies at Rhodes for two years. 

§ 18. Sylla's increasing moderation may have surprised many. 
But all were much more surprised when, early in the year 80 
B.C., he abruptly laid down his Dictator's office, which he had 
held for little more than two years, and appeared in the Forum 
as a private man, where he ascended the Rostra, rehearsed his 
acts, and desired any one who had reason to complain to come for- 
ward and speak. No one answered the challenge. The blood 
of his opponents could not speak from the ground. ^ The dis- 
franchised and the exiled had no place in the Assembly. Above 
all, it was hazardous to accept the challenge thrown down by 
a man Avho, though no longer Dictator, still had the State 
waiting on his nod. 

§ 19. Rome and Italy weije now in complete tranquillity. In 
Spain alone, of the Provinces, the Marian party under Sertorius 
maintained a threatening attitude. But Metellus Pius had been 
despatched as Proconsul to quell the insurrection, and it was 
expected that he Avould execute his commission with ease, 

§ 20. All, therefore, seemed tranquil when Sylla left Rome for 
ever, to seek at his Puteoline villa on the bay of Naples that 



Chap. LXI. DICTATORSHIP OF SYLLA. 619 

which he loved better than power or glory, — a life of voluptuous 
ease. He loved not statesmen, nor soldiers, nor serious men 
of any kind. He was fond of genial humour and unrestrained 
license, and therefore admitted jesters, actors, and humorists 
to unreserved intimacy. He was fond of sensual pleasure ; and 
therefore, though he always treated his wife Csecilia with respect, 
his doors were open to dancing girls and singing girls. He was 
fond of literature, and therefore gave free invitation to men of 
letters. In company of this various kind he passed hours 
lounging in a boat upon the Bay of Naples, and hours at table or 
over his wine, sometimes conversing on art and literature, some- 
times engaging in licentious jesting or coarse buffoonery. At 
such times he would not suffer business to be named. Self- 
indulgence and amusement were the sole objects of his life. 

§ 21. But he did not long enjoy this life of pleasurable ease. 
About a year after he had resigned the Dictatorship, he was 
attacked by a complication of disorders, which ended in a loath- 
some disease. His body, distempered by debauchery and labour, 
is said to have engendered vermin ; and thus miserably died the 
great Dictator in the 60th year of his age. 

§ 22. Sylla was eminently a man of genius. In war and poli- 
tics, in literature and encounters of Avit, he was a match for the 
masters of each art at their own weapons. That which gave him 
advantage was his perfect knowledge of men, and his just confi- 
dence in self, unalloyed by any tincture of personal vanity. In 
the art of war, he was inferior to Marius, but in the diplomatic 
arts by which men are guided or deluded he was unequalled. 
Yet with all qualities to fit him for active life, his inclinations 
lay not that way. He never continued his exertions for a longer 
time than was required for his immediate object. Properly 
speaking he was not ambitious. He desired wealth and power, 
but only as a means, his real end being the facility of absolute 
self-indulgence. His passions were by nature fierce, and they 
were made fiercer by a distempered frame of body and by un- 
just opposition. Before Marius endeavoured to rob him of the 
Mithridatic command, we hear not of any barbarities that can 
be attributed to him; and after the Proscription he relapsed 
into the easiness of temper which best suited his Epicurean 
principles. 



BOOK VII. 

SECOND PEKIOD OF CIYIL WAES. 



CHAPTER LXII. 



REVOLUTIONARY ATTEMPT OF LEPIDUS : SERTORIUS : SPARTACUS: 
CONSULSHIP OF POMPEY AND CRASSUS. (78 10 B.C.) 

8 1. Symptoms of decay in the constitution of Sylla : Catulus and Lepidus, 
Consuls. § 2. Revolutionary attempt of Lepidus. § 3. Adventures of 
Sertoriu^. § 4. His government of Spain. § 5. Metellus Pius faUs in 
crushing him: Pompey sent to his aid. § 6. Sertorius maintains his 
superiority : treaty Avith Mithridates. § 7. Sertorius assassinated by Per- 
perna. § 8. Sertorian war concluded by Pompey. § 9. Gladiatorial War : 
Spartacus. § 10. He becomes almost master of Italy. § 11. Crassus 
commands against him: his skilful measures. § 12'. Defeat and death of 
Spartacus. § 13. Claim of Pompey to merit of concluding Gladiatorial 
"War. § 14. Pompey and Crassus elected Consuls, illegally. § 15. Popular 
measures announced by Pompey: Tribunate reestabhshed. §16. Reform of 
laAV-courts proposed by Prsstor L. Cotta, opposed by Senate. § 1*7. Cicero's 
prosecution of Verres. § 18. Aurelian Lavr carried: Reform of Senate. 
§ 19. Rivalry of Pompey and Crassus : the latter acknowledges superiority 
of Pompey. 

§ 1, We now enter upon the last stage in tlie Decline and Fall 
of the Republic. By a violent effort Sylla had restored the 
government to the Senatorial Nobility. But symptoms inti- 
mating the insecurity of the fabric which he had hastily reared 
on blood-bathed foundations showed themselves even before his 
death. After his secession, Q. Catulus became the chief of the 
Senatorial party. He was son of the Catulus who shared the 
Cimbric Triumph with Marius, and in the year 79 b.c. he appeared 
among the candidates for the Consulship with the certainty of 
election. The person who aspired to be his colleague was 
M. Jjlmilius Lepidus, a man of illustrious family, but of_ vain 
and petulant character. He was supported by many friends, 
among others by young Pompey. Sylla knew the man, and 
warned Pompey against entrusting him with power. But Pompey, 
■who already began to talk of " the setting and the rising sun," 
disregarded the warning, and Lepidus was elected. 



Chap.LXII. SERTORIUS. 021 

§ 2. Scarcely "was Sylla dead when his words were fulfilled. 
Lepidus declared himself the Chief of the Italian party, and 
promised to restore all that Sylla had taken away. To prevent 
a renewal of Civil War, the Senate bound him and Catulus alike 
bv oath not to take up arms during their Consulate. But Lepidus 
retired to his Province of Transalpine Gaul, and, pretending that 
his oath did not bind him there, began to levy troops. The 
Senate summoned him to return to Rome. He obeyed, but it 
was at the head of an army. To oppose him, Catulus took post 
before the Mulvian Bridge, with Pompey for his lieutenant. 
Here they were attacked by Lepidus, who was easily defeated. 
After this failure, he fled to Sai'dinia, where he died shortly after. 
But his lieutenants, M. Perperna and L, Junius Brutus, father of 
Caesar's murderer, kept the troops together, and waited for the 
course of events. A war w^as raging in Spain, which might well 
encourage the hopes of discontented persons, 

§ 3, It has been mentioned that Q, Sertorius had assumed the 
government of Spain. But after a vain struggle against superior 
forces, he was obliged to take refuge in Mauritania. The news 
from Italy was dispiriting. It seemed as if the Marian cause was 
lost for ever. Sertorius lent ear to the tales of seamen who had 
lately made a voyage to the Fortunate Islands (so the Ancients 
called the Azores), and seemed to recognise the happy regions 
which Greek legends assigned as the abode of the Blessed,* 
But while the active soldier was indulging in day-dreams of in- 
dolent tranquillity, he received an invitation from the Lnsitanians 
to head them in rising against the Senatorial Governors, and 
obeyed without a moment's hesitation, Viriathus himself did 
not use with better effect the energies of the brave mountaineers. 
The South of Spain was soon too hot to hold the Syllan leaders : 
the proscribed Marians came out of their hiding-places and 
joined the new chief. His progress, in the course of two years' 
time, became so serious, that when Metellus Pius laid down his 
Consulship, he was sent into Spain to crush Sertorius. 

§ 4, But to crush Sertorius was no easy task. He was no 
mere soldier, but possessed political qualities of a high order. 
Like Hamilcar and Hasdrubal of old, he flattered the Spaniards 
with the hope of rising to independence under his rule. The 
government which he formed indicated a disposition to dispute 
Empire with Rome. He formed a Senate of Three Hundred, 

* , , , Evda MaKupuv 
Nuaog uKsavideg 

avpai TTEpLTrvEOLGLV, uvdefia 61 ;(fpt)(TOii ^Aeye^, 
Ta fj,lv x^P'^odev utt' dyTiauv SevdEpeuv, 
tdup 6' uXka (pEplSei, k. t. A. — Find. Olymp. ii. 128, sqq. 



622 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

consisting partly of proscribed Romans, partly of Spanish Chiefs, 
■ — a step unparalleled in the provincial government of Rome. 
All cities in his power he organised after the Italian model ; 
and at Osca (now Huesca in Catalonia) he established a school 
for the noble youth of Spain. The boys wore the Roman 
garb, and were taught the tongues of Rome and Athens. Ser- 
torius is almost the only statesman of antiquity who tried to use 
education as an engine of government. It cannot indeed be 
pretended that his views were merely phila,nthropic ; no doubt he 
held the boys as hostages for the fidelity of their sires. 

His great talents, above all his acknowledgment of equality 
beween Provincials and Romans, won* him golden opinions. 
Everywhere the Spaniards crowded to see him, and loudly pro- 
tested their readiness to die for him. Their enthusiastic reverence 
for his person was increased by the presence of a white doe, 
which continually followed him, and was regarded by the simple 
people as a familiar spirit, by means of which he held communi- 
cation with heaven. 

§ 5. Metellus in two campaigns found himself unequal to cope 
with the new ruler of Spain. In the second of these years 
(77 B.C.) Perperna, who had retired to Gaul with the best troops 
of Lepidus, entered Spain, and joined the popular leader; and 
the Senate hastily despatched Pompey to reinforce Metellus. On 
his march through Gaul, the young General encountered the other 
remnant of the army of Lepidus under Brutus ; and Brutus, who 
fell into his hands, was put to death in cold blood. 

§ 6. Pompey's aid, however, did not change the face of affairs. 
In the first battle the young General was saved by the approach 
of Metellus, on which Sertorius said : " If the old woman had not 
come up, I should have given the boy a sound drubbing and sent 
him back to Rome." At the end of 75 b.c. Pompey wrote an 
urgent letter to the Senate, representing the insuflSciency of his 
forces, and two more legions were sent to reinforce him. Mean- 
time Sertorius himself had reasons for apprehension. Some of 
his Roman friends, disliking his policy of favouring the Pro. 
vincials, made overtures to the Senatorial commanders ; and 
Sertorius, severe by nature, still further exasperated the Romana 
of his party by forming his body-guard exclusively of Spaniards. 
But he still maintained his superiority in the field. Nor was it 
encouraging to learn that he had received envoys from Mithri- 
dates, who was about to renew war with Rome. Sertorius agreed 
to furnish Roman ofiicers to train the soldiers of Asia, while the 
King was to repay the loan in ships and money. 

§ 7. The despotic power exercised by Sertorius had corrupted 
his nature. He indulged in the immoderate use of wine, was 



Chap. LXII. SPARTACUS. 623 

impatient of tbe slightest contradiction, and was guilty of many 
acts of tyranny. Even tlie Spaniards began to fall away ; and 
Sertorius in a moment of irritation ordered all tlie boys at Osca 
to be put to death. This cruel and impolitic act would probably 
have cost him his power and his life, even if it had not been 
terminated by treachery. Perperna, who had at first joined him 
against his own inclination, thought that a favourable opportu- 
nity had arrived for grasping power. He invited Sertorius to 
a banquet at Osca ; and the General, having drunk freely accord- 
ing to his custom, fell an Qasy prey to the dagger of the assassin 

(72 B.C.). 

§ 8. But when Perperna had wrought this shameful deed, he 
found that the name of Sertorius was still powerful among the 
Spaniards. Many of them, now that their great leader was no 
more, forgot his faults, and with the devoted enthusiasm of their 
nation threw, themselves into the flames of his funeral pyre. A 
few days after the death of Sertorius, Perperna attempted to lead 
the soldiery against Pompey, but he sustained an ignominious 
defeat. His men dispersed, and he was taken prisoner. When 
brought before Pompey, he endeavoured to gain favour by hand- 
ing to him letters which had been interchanged by Sertorius 
with some of the chief men at Rome. But Pompey, with prudent 
magnanimity, threw the letters into the fire and refused to hear 
him. In the course of a year the last relics of the Marian party 
in Spain were extinguished. 

Before this was effected, Rome was engaged in conflict with 
Mithridates. The history of this war shall be reserved for a 
separate chapter. But here must be noticed a formidable out- 
break that took place in Italy, and threatened the very existence 
of the State. This was the war of the Gladiators. 

§ 9. For the purpose of the barbarous shows which were so 
much enjoyed at Rome, it was the custom to keep schools for 
training gladiators, who were let out by their owners to the JEdiles. 
At Capua there was a large school of this kind ; and among the 
gladiators in training there was Spartacus, a Thracian, who had 
once led his countrymen against Roman commanders, but now, 
having been taken prisoner, was destined to make sport for his 
conquerors. He persuaded about seventy of his fellow-bondsmen 
to join him in breaking loose : better it was, he argued, to die in 
battle on the open field, than on the sand of the amphitheatre. 
This handful of brave men took up a strong position upon Mount 
Vesuvius, where Spartacus was presently joined by slaves and 
outlaws of all descriptions. The gladiators, old soldiers like 
himself, supplied him with officers. (Enomaus and Crixus, the 
former a Greek, the latter a Gaul, acted as his lieutenants. He 



624 CIVIL WARS: SECON'D PERIOD. Book VII. 

enforced strict discipline ; and, so long as he was able, obliged 
his followers to abstain from acts of rapine. Two Roman Praetors 
attacked him, but they were beaten with loss, and the numbers 
of his army swelled every day. All this happened in 73 e.g., 
after the Mithridatic War had broken out, and before the Ser- 
torian War was ended. 

§ 10. In the next year (72 b.c), the same which witnessed the 
murder of Sertorius, Spartacus had become strong enough to 
take the offensive. He had to face a formidable power, for both 
Consuls were ordered to take the field. But, at the head of 
more than 100,000 men, he forced the passes of the Apennines 
and entered Picenum. His subordinates, however, proved un- 
manageable : and Spartacus, aware that the power of Rome must 
prevail, bent all his energies towards forcing his way across the 
Alps, in the hope of reaching some remote region inaccessible to 
Rome. As he pressed northwards, he was assaulted by both 
the Consuls, but defeated them both, and made his way to 
Cisalpine Gaul ; but here he was repulsed by the Prsetor Cassius, 
and obliged by the impatience of his followers to retrace his 
steps. Still, every other Roman officer who dared to meet him was 
defeated : at one time the brave Gladiator is said to have meditated 
a descent upon Rome itself. But he relinquished this desperate 
plan, and spent the remainder of the year in collecting treasure 
and arms. Little discipline was now observed. The extent of 
the ravages committed by the bands under his command may be 
guessed from the well-known line of Horace, in which he promised 
his friend a jar of wine made in the Social War, " if he could find 
one that had escaped the clutches of roaming Spartacus."* 

§ 11. The management of the war was now committed to 
Crassus, who had really won the Battle of the Colline gate. 
Ever since the triumph of Sylla he had lived quietly at Rome, 
profiting by the Proscription to buy up property cheap; and 
after that period he had been busied in making the most profit- 
able use of the large fortune which he had amassed. 

Crassus took the field with six new legions, to be added to the 
remains of the Consular Armies. The disorganised battalions 
of these armies he punished by the unjust and terrible penalty 
of decimation ; but his rigour was successful in restoring disci- 
pline. He found Spartacus besieging Rhegium, with the view of 
establishing a connexion with Sicily, and rekindling the Servile 
War in that Island. The Gladiator had even agreed with a 
squadron of Cilician Pirates to convey 2000 of his men across 
the straits; but the faithless marauders took the money and 
sailed without the men. Crassus determined to shut up the 
* 3 Carm. si v. 19. 



Chap. LXII. CONSULSHIP OF POMPEY AND CRASSUS. 625 

enemy by drawing entrenchments across the narrowest part of 
the Calabrian Peniusuhi. Twice in one day did Spartacus en- 
deavour to break through the lines ; twice he was thrown back 
with great shxughter. But he continued to defend himself with 
dauntless pertinacity ; and the Senate, hearing that Pompey was 
on his way back from Spain, joined him in the command with 
Crassus, and urged him to accelerate his march. 

§ 12. Crassus, afraid of losing his laurels, determined to assault 
Spartacus ; but the brave Gladiator anticipated him by forcing 
a passage through the lines, and marching upon Brundusium, 
where he hoped to seize shipping and make his escape from 
Italy. But M. Lucullus, brother of Lucius, the commander 
against Mithridates, had just returned with a force of veteran 
soldiers from Macedonia to Brundusium. Spartacus, foiled in 
his intention, turned like a wolf at bay to meet Crassus. A 
fearful conflict ensued, which remained doubtful till Spartacus 
was wounded by a dart through the thigh. Supported on his 
knee, he still fought heroically, till he fell overpowered by num- 
bers. Most of his followers were cut to pieces; but a strong- 
body of the insurgents drew off in good order to the mountains. 
A division of 5000 made their way to the North of Italy, where 
Pompey fell in with them on his way home from Spain, and slew 
them to a man. About 6000 more were taken prisoners by 
Crassus, who hung them along the road from Rome to Capua. 

§ 13. To Crassus belongs the credit of bringing this dreadful 
war to a close. In six months he had finished his work. But 
Pompey claimed the honour of concluding not only the Sertorian 
War, but also the war wath Spartacus. In fact he had not much 
cause for boasting in either case. The daggers of Perperna really 
brought the Spanish contest to an end ; and es to the gladiatorial 
conflict, the lucky chance by which Pompey intercepted 5000 
fugitives was his only claim to credit. But the young General 
was a favourite with the soldiery and with the People, while 
Crassus from his greedy love of money enjoyed little popularity. 
Public opinion, therefore, seconded claims which were put forward 
without modesty or justice. 

§ 14. Neither Pompey nor Crassus would enter the City; for 
both desired a Triumph, and their armies lay at the gates to 
share the honours. The wish of Pompey was at once granted ; 
but to Crassus only an Ovation was conceded. 

Before they entered the City, they had both asked permission 
to off"er themselves as Candidates for the Consulship. Both were 
excluded by the Laws of Sylla. Crassus was still Prsetor, and at 
least two years ought to elapse before his Consulship. Pompey 
was only in his thirty-fifth year, and had not even been Quaestor. 

27 



626 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VIL 

The Senate, however, dared not refuse Pompey; for he would 
not disband his army, and his tone brooked no refusal. And 
what was granted to Pompey could not be denied to Crassus, 
who also kept his soldiers under arms. Thus, at the demand of 
two chiefs, each backed by an army, the Senate were, within 
eight years after Sylla's death, obliged to break his Laws. Pom- 
pey was elected by acclamation. Crassus might have been less 
successful, had there not been a secret understanding between 
him and Pompey. On the Calends of January, 70 b.c, Pompey 
and Crassus entered on their memorable Consulship. 

§ 15. On that day Pompey gave intimation of his intention 
to pursue a popular course of policy. In a set speech he declared 
his intention of releasing the Tribunes from the trammels im- 
posed upon them by Sylla, and of attempting a Reform of the 
Judicial system. Both of Pompey's announcements Avere received 
with shouts of applause. To the former the Senate offered but 
a feeble opposition. The Tribunes were restored to the exercise 
of their power, and with their restoration it may be said that the 
key-stone of the arch erected by Sylla fell. With the resuscita- 
tion of this popular power revived also the independence of the 
Tribe- Assembly, and hence followed by necessity a struggle be- 
tween that body and the Senate. 

§ 16. But the other measure broached by Pompey was one 
which the Senate determined to oppose to the uttermost. They 
could not tamely abandon their absolute power over the Law- 
courts. Yet in the last ten years scandal had been great. Among 
other persons Csesar had reason to complain. After his escape 
from Sylla's vengeance, he also, like Cicero, resorted to the 
schools of Greek Philosophy. On his return, though only in his 
23rd year, he indicted Cn. Dolabella for misgovernment in Mace- 
donia. Dolabella was defended by Q. Hortensius, the first 
Advocate of the day, a determined adherent of the Senatorial 
Party, and as a matter of course he was acquitted. It had, 
however, been remarked that the Knights were little less corrupt 
than the Senators; and the law proposed under Pompey's 
authority by the City-Prsetor, L. Aurelius Cotta, was so devised 
as to establish a Court composed of three elements, each of which 
might serve as a check upon the other two. In each Jury one- 
third of the Jurymen was to be furnished by the Senate, one- 
third by the Knights, and the remaining third by the Tribunes 
of the Treasury.* Catulus endeavoured to promote a com- 

* The Tribuni ^rarii. Originally they were the Presidents of the Tribes 
and collectors of the Tributum, but their name hardly ever occurs in Roman 
authors. It is probable that there was one Trihunus uSrarius for every Cen- 
tury in the new Comitia Centuriata, and therefore in all 350 in mmiber. 



Chap. LXII. CONSULSHIP OF POMPEY AND CRASSUS. G2Y 

promise; but Pompey was resolute, and the Nobles prepared to 
inaiutaiii their privilege by arms. 

§ 17. An event, however, occurred which smoothed the way 
for Cotta's Law. Cicero, as we have mentioned, after the great 
credit he had won by his bold defence of Sext. Roscius, had 
quitted Rome for two years. He returned in 11 B.C., and imme- 
diately began to dispute with Hortensius the sway which he 
exercised in the Law-Courts. Except during the year 15 e.g., 
when he was serving as Quaestor in Sicily, he was employed as 
an Advocate at Rome. His polished eloquence excited universal 
admiration; his defence of many wealthy clients brought him in 
much money and connected him with many powerful families. 
He Avas of the same age as Pompey; and, being now a Candi- 
date for the -^dileship, he began to be eager for political dis- 
tinction. To obtain this by military commands was not suited 
to his tastes or talents. But it was possible to achieve it by the 
public impeachment of some poAverful offender. C. Cornelius 
Verres, a man connected with some of the highest Senatorial 
families, had for three years been Praetor of Sicily, from which 
province he had returned after practising extortions and iniquities 
unexampled even in those days. The Sicilians, remembering the 
industry and equity with which Cicero had lately executed the 
functions of Qusestor in their island, begged him to come forward 
as the accuser of this man; and the Orator, who saw how he 
might at once strengthen the hands of Pompey, and share the 
popular triumph of the Consul, readily undertook the cause. 

The first attempt which the dexterous Advocate of Yerres made 
to elude Cicero's attack was to put forward Q. Caecilius Niger, 
who had been Quaestor under Verres, to contend that to him 
belonged the task of accusation. But Cicero exposed the in- 
tended fraud so unanswerably that even the Senatorial Jurymen 
named Cicero as prosecutor.* He demanded ninety days for 
the purpose of collecting evidence in Sicily. But he only used 
fifty of them, and on the 5th of August he opened this famous 
impeachment. He had in the mean time been elected .^lile. 
But Hortensius had also become Consul-elect; and one of the 
Metelli, a warm friend of the accused, was designated to succeed 
Glabrio, who now presided in the Court as Praetor Peregrinus. It 
Avas therefore a great object for Verres to get the trial postponed 
to next year, when his great Senatorial friends would fill the 
most important ofiices in the State. To baffle this design, Cicero 
contented himself with a brief statement of his case, and at 
once proceeded to call witnesses. So overpowering was the 
evidence, that Hortensius threw up his brief, and Verres sought 
* See the Divinatio in Q. Ccecilium. 



628 CIVIL "WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VIL 

impunity in a voluntary exile. To show what he could have 
done, Cicero published the Five great Pleadings, in which he 
intended to have set forth the crimes of Verres; and they 
remain to us as a notable picture of the misery which it was in 
the power of a Roman Proconsul to inflict. 

Soon after the trial came to this abrupt issue, the Law was 
passed, seemingly with little opposition ; and thus a second 
great breach was made in the Syllan Constitution. 

§ 18. The corrupt state of the Senate itself was made manifest 
by a step noAV taken by Catulus and his friends. They restored 
the Censorial office, which had been suspended for sixteen years. 
The Censors of the year 70 b.c. discharged their duties with 
severe integrity, and sixty-four Senators were degraded. For 
Catulus they revived the high rank of Princeps, and he was the 
last independent Senator who held that rank. When it was 
next called into existence, it served to give a Title to the des- 
potic authority of Augustus. The review of the Knights was 
made remarkable by the fact that the Consul Pompey appeared 
in the procession, leading his horse through the Forum, and 
submitting himself to the Censorial scrutiny. 

§ 19. The jealousy of Crassus increased with Pompey's popu- 
larity. Both the Consuls continued to maintain an armed force 
near the City ; and, though the liberal measures of Pompey had 
won the Forum, yet the gold of Crassus commanded many fol- 
loAvers. The Senate dreaded that the days of Marius or Cinna 
might return. But Crassus calculated the risks of a conflict, and 
prudently resolved to give a pledge of peace. At the close of 
the year he publicly ofi'ered his hand to Pompey, which the latter 
deigned to accept after the manner of a prince. It did not suit 
Crassus to disturb credit and imperil his vast fortune by a civil 
war : Pompey was satisfled so long as no other disputed his claim 
to be the first Citizen of the Republic. 

Thus ended by far the most remarkable year that had passed 
since the time of Sylla. Two generals, backed by an armed 
force, had trampled on the great Dictator's laws : and one of 
them had rudely shaken the political edifice reared in so much 
blood. Behind them appeared the form of one who sought to 
gain by eloquence and civil arts what had lately been arrogated 
by the sword. But it was some years yet before Csesar descended 
into the political arena. 




Cn. Pompeius Magnus. 



CHAPTER LXIII. 



THIRD OR GREAT MITHRIDATIC WAR : POMPEY IN THE EAST. 
(74— 61 B.C.) 

§ 1. Second Mithridatie "War. § 2. Preparations of Mithridates. § 3. 
Third Mithindatic War : the King defeats the Consul Cotta, and lays 
siege to Cyzicus. § 4. L. Lucullus, the other Consul, relieves Cyzicus. 
§ 5. Drives Mithridates into Ai'menia. § 6. Sends to demand Mithridates 
from Tigranes : relieves Asiatics from arrears of debt. § 7. Invades 
Armenia, and takes Tigranocerta. § 8. Obliged to relinquish his advance 
upon Artaxata: takes Nisibis. § 9. Mithridates defeats Triarius in 
Pontus: army of LucuUus mutinies. § 10. Account of Cihcian pirates." 
Gabinian Law, empowering Pompey to put them down. § 11. Brilliant 
success of Pompey. § 12. MiniUan Law, investing Pompey with com- 
mand over the East. § 13. He drives Mithridates across the Caucasus. 
§ 14. Effect of his victories : further successes : he returns to Pontus. § 15. 
His campaign in Syria: siege of Jerusalem. § 16. Death of Mithridates. 
§ 17. Pompey's progress through Asia and Greece ; return to Italy. 

§ 1. It has been mentioned that so soon as Sylla's hack was 
turned, Murena assailed Mithridates anew. Archelaus, who had 
been disgraced by his master, was his secret instigator. Mithri- 
dates submitted silently, till he found the Roman General pre- 
paring to repeat his invasion. Then he collected a large force, 
fell suddenly upon Murena near the Halys, and defeated him. 
Envoys now arrived from Rome, commanding Murena to desist 



630 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

from liis rash enterprise : and thus ended what is usually called 
the Second Mithridatic War. 

§ 2. This reckless attack was enough to provoke a less adven- 
turous spirit than that of Mithridates. The death of the great 
Pictator, the outbreak of party quarrels, and the successes of 
Sertorius, led the King to think that a favourable moment had 
arrived. It was about the year 75 b.c. that he concluded his 
Treaty with Sertorius. But the Roman leader's career was cut 
short, and the Treaty was of no effect. 

Soon after this, Nicomedes of Bithynia died, and left his king- 
dom by will to the Roman People. But Mithridates at once 
led an army consisting of 120,000 foot, armed and trained in 
the Roman fashion, with 16,000 horse, into Bithynia. A powerful 
fleet cooperated with this formidable force, and the whole 
country submitted without a blow. 

§ 3. The Consuls of the year were M. Aurelius Cotta, and L, 
Licinius Lucullus. LucuUus, eldest son of a Lucullus who had 
commanded in the Second Sicilian Slave War, and grandson of 
him who had behaved so treacherously to the Spaniards,* had 
done good service under Sylla in the First Mithridatic War, and 
seemed to have earned a right to command in the present out- 
break. But Cotta had obtained the Province of Bithynia by 
lot, and Lucullus was destined by this capricious dispenser of 
patronage to the quiet rule of Cisalpine Gaul. It happened, 
however, that the Province of Cilicia became vacant, and the 
Senate conferred it upon him as an extraordinary command. 
On the arrival of Lucullus in Asia, he heard that Cotta had been 
obliged to throw himself into Chalcedon, where he was block- 
aded by the King. Lucullus carried with him no more than two 
Legions. Besides these he found four in Asia, two of which 
were the licentious soldiery of Fimbria. But there was no time 
to pick and choose. He advanced into Mysia with about 30,000 
foot and 1,600 horse. 

Meanwhile, Mithridates had laid siege to Cyzicus, a town 
which stands on what is now a peninsula, though at that time 
it was separated from the mainland by a narrow channel. With 
his large army he cut it off from all communication with the land, 
while his powerful fleet served at once to blockade the place, and 
to keep his army well supplied. 

§ 4. Lucullus cautiously advanced towards Cyzicus, and con- 
trived to post his army so strongly, that on the one hand he 
Avas quite secure from attack, while on the other he completely 
commanded the enemy's lines. Winter was at hand. The 
Pontic fleet was unable to keep the sea ; and as Lucullus had 
* Chapt. xliv. § 12. 



Chap. LXIII. THIRD MITHRIDATIC WAR. 03 1 

iutercopted communication ■with tlie interior, supplies began to 
fail. By famine and disease tlie enemy Avas at lengtli so weak- 
ened, that Lucullus closed in upon them, and the besiegers 
became in their turn besieged. After persisting bravely for 
some time, Mithridates sent off his sick towards Bithynia, while 
he showed a bold front towards Lucullus. But the Roman 
general sent a detachment in pursuit, while he had still force 
enough to keep his own ground, and the wretched fugitives were 
cut off" to a man. The remainder of the Pontic arm)^ then broke 
out from their lines and marched along the coast for Lampsacus. 
Lucullus followed close, and attacked them at every advantageous 
point. On the ^Esoj^us, on the Granicus, great numbers fell ; 
only a shattered remnant of the host arrived at Lampsacus. 
Here, in company with the Lampsacenes, who dreaded the ven- 
geance of Rome, they embarked on board the fleet for Nico- 
media. But the greater part perished in a storm, and the vast 
army Avhich Mithridates had collected and trained with so much 
anxious care was annihilated in little more than a year. Mithri- 
dates himself Avas indebted to a pirate for his escape to Sinope. 
For the whole of that year and the next Lucullus continued 
steadily to advance upon the kingdom of Pontus. At the end of 
72 B.C. Lucullus sent letters wreathed in laurel recording his 
successes to the Senate. 

§ 5. Winter checked not the activity of the Roman com- 
mander. He crossed the Halys late in the season. Alarmed at 
the approach of the Romans, Mithridates left Sinope, his capital 
city, and betook himself to the mountain-fortress of Cabeira, 
within reach of the kingdom of his son-in-law Tigranes. To 
this monarch, who styled himself King of Kings, he sent for aid, 
as well as to his own son Machares, whom he had made sovereign 
over the Crimean Bosphorus and its dependencies. The strong 
town of Amisus, however, held out during the winter ; and in 
the spring of '71 B.C., Lucullus, leaving Murena (son of him Avho 
had earned a disgraceful triumph from the Second Mithi'idatic 
War) to continue the siege, advanced against Cabeira. Mithri- 
dates fled precipitately, and was so hotly pursued, that his cap- 
ture would have been certain, had not the Roman horsemen 
stopped to collect a quantity of gold Avhich had fallen from a 
pack-horse in the King's suite. He took refuge in Armenia. 
Amisus now surrendered ; Sinope followed its example ; and by 
the close of the third campaign, all the country from the Halys 
to the Euphrates was at the feet of Rome. 

§ G. In the course of the next year (70 b.c.) Lucullus sent App. 
Clodius to demand the person of Mithridates from Tigranes. 
The envoy did not return from this mission for some months ; 



632 CIVIL WARS : SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

and Lucullus employed the interval in making a tour of Asia 
Minor, with the purpose of restoring order in the Province and 
its contiguous principalities. His mild and generous temper 
won the favour of the people. It had been formerly his task to 
collect the tribute imposed by Sylla upon Asia Minor, and he 
had performed this duty with all the gentleness which its nature 
permitted. But since his departure, the imposts had been 
multiplied six-fold by the extortionate interest demanded for 
taxes in arrear. Lucullus at once fixed the rate of interest at 
one per cent., struck off the accumulated sums from the capital 
of the debt, and made other stringent rules for checking the 
malpractices of the Eoman Capitalists. These proceedings made 
him many enemies ; moreover, by forbidding pillage, he lost the 
affections of Legions accustomed to license. 

§ 7. Early in 69 b.c, App. Clodius returned with the answer 
of Tigranes. This haughty monarch had not as yet admitted 
his unfortunate father-in-law to his presence. But the tone of 
the Roman Envoy displeased him ; he was especially wroth 
because he was not honoured with the title of King of Kings, 
and he refused to give up the person of Mithridates. Lucullus 
at once crossed the upper ' Euphrates with a small force, and 
pushed on through wild mountain districts to Tigranocerta, the 
Western Capital of Armenia. Mithridates advised Tigranes not 
to hazard an action Avith the invaders. But the King scornfully 
rejected his advice. "Those Romans," he said, "for ambassadors 
are too many, for enemies too few." But a terrible defeat was the 
consequence of his temerity; and the slaughter of his broken 
host was only stopped by the approach of night. Tigranes tore 
off his diadem, and fled eastward, having learnt by bitter expe- 
rience that his father-in-law had formed too true an estimate of 
the Roman soldiery. Tigranocerta, though defended by walls 
50 cubits -high, was betrayed by the Greek inhabitants of the 
place. Machares, son of Mithridates, viceroy of the Crimea, paid 
homage to Rome. The King of the Parthians, a powerful tribe, 
which had poured from the mountainous districts south of the 
Indian Caucasus, and had become lords of Central Asia from the 
Indus to the Euphrates, sent offers of alliance. Roman tacticians 
loudly commended Lucullus, who had subdued the disciplined 
army of Mithridates by systematic operations, and had crushed 
the barbarous hordes of Tigranes by adventurous boldness. 

§ 8. Next year (68 b.c.) the Roman leader continued his vic- 
torious career. Tigranes attempted to make a stand upon the 
Arsanias, a tributary of the Euphrates, but was again defeated, 
and fled to Artaxata, the second capital of Armenia, which lies in 
the valley of the Araxes, northward of Mount Ararat. Lucullus, 



Ch.\p. LXIII. third MITHRIDATIC war. 633 

nothing daunted, was anxious to continue the pursuit. But 
ah'eady the soldiciy had shown mutinous inclinations, and the 
Tribunes declared that the army Avould advance no farther East- 
ward. Lucullus unwillingly gave way, and turned his course 
southward, crossed the range of Taurus into the Avarmer region 
between the upper valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates, then 
called Mygdonia, where he took by storm the large and wealthy 
town of Nisibis. In the ensuing winter events happened that 
destroyed his well-grounded hopes of eventual success. 

§ 9. Mithridates, finding that Pontus was occupied by a feeble 
corps of the Roman army under the command of L. Valerius 
Triarius, suddenly re-appeared in his own kingdom. Early next 
spring (67 b.c.) news of this bold descent reached Lucullus, Avho 
hastened to support his lieutenant. But Triarius, presumptuous 
and eager for triumph, attacked Mithridates at Zela, without 
waiting for the arrival of the General, and he was defeated, 
with the loss of his own life. The King, satisfied with his 
advantage, retreated to the mountains, and Lucullus gave orders 
for pursuit. But the mutinous spirit, partially disclosed in the 
foregoing year, now broke out wtlh undissembled fury. The 
flame was fanned by Publ. Clodius Pulcher, younger brother of 
the App. Clodius who had been sent as envoy to Tigranes, 
and brother-in-law to the General. His subsequent career 
proved his reckless and selfish temper. On the present occasion, 
though he Avas but one or tAvo and tAventy, he conceived he had 
been neglected by Lucullus. In the army he found ready mate- 
rials for sedition. The men had indeed some reason for dis- 
content. The soldiers of Fimbria had been absent from Italy 
for nearly tAventy years ; and since Lucullus took the command 
they had suff'ered great hardships. Lucullus, though a good 
general and a just ruler, had none of that genial frankness Avhich 
wins the affection of soldiers, and his luxurious habits excited 
jealousy. The army agreed to , defend Pontus from Mithridates, 
but positively refused to undertake any ncAv operations. ' 

§ 10. Events Avere even noAV occurring Avhich transferred the 
command to other hands. While the Roman arms Avere threat- 
ening the shores of the Caspian and the confines of the Parthian 
MonarchA', while Lucullus was mortified at seeing a magnificent 
Triumph slip from his grasp, a formidable enemy Avas assailing 
the very shores of Italy. From ancient times, as at the present 
day, the creeks of Asia Minor, and the islets of the Archipelago, 
had been the resort of piratical bands, Avho sallied out for 
plunder, and disappeared as if by magic before attack. During 
the distractions that followed the Social and Civil Wars, these 
Pirates had gained a power and an audacity unknown before. 



634 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

Their cliief nests were in the ports of Cilicia and Pisidia ; and 
they possessed strongholds in the mountain valleys which lead 
down from Taurus to that coast. Hence these Pirates are 
often called Cilicians, and often Isaurians, — the district of 
Isauria, in the heart of the Pisidian mountain range, being 
one of their chief fastnesses. Of late they had been encou- 
raged by the patronage and money of Mithridates. Their 
audacity was extreme. At one time young Caesar was in their 
hands ; and P. Clodius, who had left the army of LucuUus after 
his success in fomenting mutiny, was now their prisoner. Not 
long before this, they had carried off two Praetors from Italy. 
The grand-daughter of the great Orator M. Antonius had been 
seized by them at Misenum ; the very port of Ostia had been 
plundered by their galleys. In the year 78 e.g., Q. Servilius 
Vatia was sent as Proconsul to Cilicia, and he carried on the war 
with so much success, that he assumed . the title of Isauricus. 
In 75 B.C., M. Antonius, the son of the Orator, was invested 
with an extraordinary command over the Mediterranean, in order 
to clear the seas of the Pirates. But he used his great power 
for plunder and extortion ; Tiis operations covered the Roman 
arms with dishonour ; and, dying in Crete, he was called Creticus 
in derision. The depredations of the Pirates continued. Q. 
Metellus, Consul in 69 B.C., was ordered to continue the war 
against Crete, with a view to further operations against the 
Pirates, and gave good promise of a successful issue. But 
Pompey was becoming impatient for employment. He was 
popular ; his military character stood higher than that of any 
other man at Rome ; and it was with general approbation, that 
in the year 67 B.C., the Tribune Au. Gabinius, a creature of 
his own, brought forward a law enabling the People to elect a 
person of Consular rank, who should exercise over the whole 
Mediterranean a power still more absolute than had been con- 
ferred upon Antonius. Every one kncAV that Pompey was to 
be the person. The Senate were, almost to a man, suspicious 
of his intentions. It was thought that he purposed to make 
himself the chief of Rome ; and the proposition was opposed, 
as dangerous to freedom, by the Senatorial leaders, Catulus, 
Hortensius, and others. Csesar supported it in the Senate ; 
but he stood almost alone. Pompey was threatened with the 
ominous words : — " You aspire to be Romulus ; beware the fate 
of Romulus." When the Tribes met to pass the Bill, a Tribune 
named Trebellius was induced to interpose his veto ; nor could 
threats or persuasions move him, till Gabinius put it to the vote 
that he should be deprived of his Tribunate, as Octavius had 
been deprived by Gracchus. Not till seventeen Tribes had voted 



Chap. LXIII. BRILLIANT SUCCESS OF POMPEY. 035 

for liis deprivation, did TreboUins yield, and tlien the Bill was 
passed by acelamatiou. No sooner -was this result known, than 
the price of provisions fell. 

§ 11. No part of Pompey's life is so brilliant as its next years. 
During the winter he got a large Fleet ready for sea. Twenty- 
four lieutenants, among Avhom appear the names of Cato and 
Yarro, some commanding squadrons of the fleet, some protect- 
ing the coast with troops, obeyed his orders. He directed all 
these forces to encircle the West of the ]\Iediterranean, and by 
simultaneous movements to drive the flying squadrons of the 
enemy before them towards the East. In the brief space of forty 
days iie returned to Rome, and reported that the whole sea West 
of Greece had been cleared of the Pirates. Meantime, a powerful 
Fleet had assembled at Brundusium ; and hastening across Italy 
to that port he took the command in person. He continued 
his plan of action by sweeping every inlet of the Archipelago, so 
as to force the enemy to the Cilician coast. Their assembled 
ships ventured to give him battle off the rock-fortress of Cora- 
cesium, and suffered a complete defeat. A general submission 
followed, due as nmch to the leniency of Pompey as to his 
victory ; and in the course of three montlis from the day on which 
he commenced operations the war was ended. A large number 
of the Pirates were settled in the Cilician town of Soli, which 
was henceforth named Pompeiopolis. 

About the same time, Metellus completed the conquest of 
Crete, and Pompey sought to include that island in his command. 
But Metellus resisted the encroachment, and the Senate backed 
him. After some delay, he was honoured with a Triumph and 
assumed the name of Creticus as a title of real honour. 

§ 12. At the moment, then, Avhen Lucullus was unwillingly 
obeying his soldiery, Pompey, in the full blaze of victory, was 
settlmg the affairs of Cilicia. During the Avinter he remained 
in the East, His friends at Rome put forward his name as the 
only person fit to be entrusted with the task of concluding the 
Mithridatic War. At the very beginning of the year 66 B.C., the 
Tribune Manilius moved that a second commission should be 
issued to invest Pompey with the chief command over all Roman 
dominions in the East, till he had brought the war with Mithri- 
dates to an end. The Senatorial Chiefs opposed the law of 
Manilius, but less vehemently than they had opposed the law of 
Gabinius, and a new supporter of the popular hero appeared in 
the person of Cicero. The eloquent advocate had never yet 
addressed the Tribes on any political question, and he could not 
have found an occasion better suited for his first essay than the 
praises of Pompey. The task Avas easy, and the audience eager ; 



636 CIVIL WAES: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

but never was a more splendid offering paid to military genius 
than was now paid to Pompey by the rising Orator.* . Success 
was a matter of course. Pompey received by acclamation the 
most extensive authority ever yet conferred by law upon a Eo- 
man Citizen, with the exception of the Dictatorial power given 
to Sylla. He was in fact appointed Dictator of the East ; and 
with the army placed at his command, it would have been easy 
to establish himself as master of the West also. It must be 
confessed, that the Senatorial Chiefs had some reason to object 
to this unlimited authority. Necessity was an excuse in Sylla's 
case ; for without him there would have been anarchy. But no 
necessity now existed ; for it cannot be doubted, that Lucullus, 
with proper reinforcements, would have brought the war to a 
speedy conclusion. But the cause of Pompey was identified with 
the cause of the People ; Lucullus was held to be a champion of 
the Senate ; and the popular will prevailed. 

§ 13. During the year of inaction that had preceded Pompey's 
appointment, Mithridates had collected a fresh army, with which 
he occupied the frontier of Pontus. Pompey received his new 
commission in the summer of 66 B.C., and he at once pushed 
forward towards Cabeira, through a country wasted by previous 
campaigns. Mithridates, anxious to avoid a battle, retired 
towards the sources of the Halys, but he was overtaken by the 
Roman general, and obliged to give battle on a spot afterwards 
marked by the city of Nicopolis, founded by Pompey in memory 
of the battle. Here Mithridates was entirely defeated, and with 
only a few stragglers succeeded in crossing the Euphrates. But 
Tigranes refused to harbour him in Armenia ; and he made his 
way northward, with great difficulty, through the wild mountain 
tribes of Caucasus to Dioscurias (Iskuria) on the coast of Cir- 
cassia. Banished from the regions south of Caucasus, his adven- 
turous genius formed the conception of uniting the Sarmatian 
tribes northward of the Black Sea, and making a descent upon 
Italy. Panic-stricken at his father's approach, Machares, Viceroy 
of the Crimea, sought death by his own hand ; and the Crimea 
again became subject to Mithridates. 

§ 14. So great was the terror caused by the victories of the 
Roman General, that Tigranes would have prostrated himself 
at his feet, had not Pompey prevented the humiliation; and 
Phraates of Parthia, who had assumed the proud title of King of 
Kings, lately arrogated by Tigranes, sent to make an alliance 
with the victorious Roman, who turned his steps Northward in 
pursuit of Mithridates. At mid-winter he celebrated the 

* See his speech Pro imperio Cn. Pompeii, commonly called pro Lege 
■Manilla, especially c. 16. 



Chap. LXIII. POMPEY'S CAMPAIGN IN SYRIA. 637 

Saturnalia on the Rivov Cyrus (Kur), and in tlie spring advanced 
along the coast to the I'liasis. But learning that Mithridates 
was safe in the Crimea, he turned back to his old quarters on 
tlie Cyrus, and spent the summer in reducing the tribes "which 
occupied the southern slopes of Caucasus. One of his victories 
was celebrated by the foundation of another Nicopolis. But 
he was obliged to return to Pontus for winter-quarters. Here 
he received ambassadors from the neighbouring potentates, and 
busied himself in reducing Pontus to the form of a Roman 
Province. For the next two years he occupied himself by cam- 
paigns in the famous countries to the south of Asia Minor. 

§ 15. Syria had been of late years subject to Tigranes. In 
the summer of 64 B.C., Pompey, descending through Cappadocia 
to Antioch, took possession of the kingdom of the Seleucidse 
and reduced it to the form of a Roman Province. The Iturseans, 
the northern Idumseans, and all the country below Taurus 
croached submissive at his feet. As he advanced Southward, 
his authority was called in to settle a quarrel between two 
brothers of that Royal Family, Avhich had inherited the Jewish 
sceptre and high priesthood from the brave Maccabees. Aristo- 
bulus was the reigning King of Judaea, but his title was dis- 
puted by his brother Hyrcanus. It was the latter who applied 
for aid to the Roman General. Pompey accepted the appeal. 
But the Jews, attached to the reigning prince, refused obe- 
dience, and Pompey was obliged to undertake the siege of Jeru- 
salem. For three months the Jews defended themselves with 
their wonted obstinacy ; but their submission was enforced by 
famine, and Pompey entered the Holy Cit3^ Pillage he forbade ; 
but, excited by the curiosity which even then the spiritual wor- 
ship of Jehovah created in the minds of Roman idolaters, he 
entered the sacred precincts of the Temple, and ventured even 
to intru4e into the Holy of Holies, ancl to stand behind that 
solemn veil which had hitherto been lifted but once a year, and 
that by the High Priest alone. We know little of the impression 
produced upon Pompey's mind by finding the shrine untenanted 
by any object of worship. But it is interesting to compare the 
irreverent curiosity of the Roman with the conduct attributed 
to the Great Alexander upon a similar occasion. Hyrcanus was 
established in the sovereignty, on condition of paying a tribute 
to Rome: Aristobulus followed the conqueror as his prisoner. 

§ 16. Aretas, King of the Nabatha^an Arabs, defied the arms 
of Pompey; and the conqueror was preparing to enter the rocky 
deserts of Idumaea, so as to penetrate to Petra, when he received 
news which suddenly recalled him to Asia Minor. Mithridates 
was no more. He had been endeavouring to execute his great 



638 



CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. 



Book VIL 



design of uniting all tlie barbarous Tribes of Eastern Europe 
against Rome, and so excited the alarm of bis remaining subjects, 
that bis son Pharnaces found it an easy task to raise them to 
insurrection. Tbe old monarch, rendered desperate by seeing 
his last hopes baulked, had, while Pompey was yet before Jeru- 
salem, terminated his own life at Panticapseum (Kertch) in the 
Crimea. Pompey hastened to Sinope, to which place the body 
of the old King had been sent by his son. It was honoured with 
a royal funeral, and placed in the sepulchre of his fathers. 

§ 17. The remainder of the year 63 b.c. was spent by the 
General in regulating the new Provinces of Bithynia, Pontus, 
and Syria, and in settling the kingdoms, which he allowed to 
remain under Roman protection on the frontiers of these Pro- 
vinces. Pharnaces, son of Mithridates, was left in the possession 
of the Crimea and its dependencies : Deitorarus, chief of Galatia, 
received an increase of territory ; Ariobarzanes was restored for 
the fourth time to the principality of Cappadocia. All this was 
done by Pompey's sole authority, Avithout advice from the Senate. 

Early in 62 b.c. he left Asia, and proceeded slowly through 
Macedonia and Greece, — so slowly, that on the 1st of January 
61 B.C., he had not yet appeared before the walls of Rome to 
claim his Triumph. He had been absent from Italy for nearly 
seven years. His intentions were known to none. But the 
power' given him by the devotion of his soldiers was absolute; 
and the Senatorial Chiefs might well feel anxiety till he disclosed 
his will. But before we speak of his arrival in Rome, we must 
relate the important events that had occurred during his absence. 




Slab from Arch of Titus, representing the Spoils of Jerusalem borne in Triumph. 




M. TuUius Cicero, 



CHAPTER LXIV. 



FROM CONSULSHIP OF POMPEY AND CRASSUS TO RETURN OF POMPEY 
FROM THE EAST : CiESAR : CICERO : CATILINE. (69 61b,C.) 

§ 1. Life of Csesar to 6*7 b.c. § 2. His Qusestorship and ^dilesliip : acknow- 
ledged as leader of the Marian Party. § 3. Discontent with government 
of Senate among (1) families of Proscribed, (2) soldiers of Sylla, (3) pro. 
fligate young Nobles. § 4. Catiline : his previous life : accused by P. 
Clodius, and prevented standing for Consulship. § 5. First plot of 
Catiline : Cicero's offer to defend him. § 6. Election of Cicero and C. 
Antonius to Consulship, Catiline being rejected. §7. Cicero's Consulship: 
he takes part with Senate : speaks against Agrarian Law of Rullus. § 8. 
Impeachment of Rabirius for taking up arms against Saturninus. § 9. 
Cicero opposes the restoration of the Sons of the Proscribed. § 10. Election 
of Csesar to Chief Pontificate. § 11. Catiline's plans betrayed to Cicero: 
Consuls invested with dictatorial power : Catiline again loses Consulship : 
Cicero's First Speech: CatUine leaves Rome: Second Speech. §12. Allo- 
brogian Envoys seized. § 13. Arrest of Conspirators left at Rome: 
Cicero's Third Speech. § 14. Debate in Senate on punishment of prisoners: 
Cicero's Fourth Speech: they are put to death. § 15. Cicero defends 
Murena, Consul-elect. § 16. Catiline defeated and slain early in next 
year. § 17. Discussion as to complicity of Crassus and Ctesar in Cati- 
line's conspiracy. 
§ 1. Though the restoration of tlie Tribunate and the with- 
drawal of the Judicial power had given a rude shock to the 



640 CIVIL WARS: SECON^D PERIOD. Book VII. 

Senatorial Oligarchy, they still remained masters of Rome. But 
a chief was growing up who was destined to restore life to the 
Marian party, to become master of the Roman world, and to be 
acknowledged as the greatest man whom Rome ever produced. 

C. Julius Caesar was born of an old Patrician family in the year 
100 B.C. He was therefore six years younger than Pompey and 
Cicero. His father, C. Caesar, did not live to reach the Consul- 
ship. His uncle Sextus held that high dignity in 91 B.C., just 
before the outbreak of the Social War. But the connexion on 
which the young Patrician most prided himself was the marriage 
of his aunt Julia with C. Marius ; and at the early age of seven- 
teen he declared his adhesion to the popular party by espousing 
Cornelia, the daughter of Cinna, who was at that time absolute 
master of Rome.* We have already noticed his bold refusal to 
repudiate his wife, and his narrow escape from Sylla's assassins. 
His first military service was performed under L. Minucius Ther- 
mus, who was left by Sylla to take Mytilene. In the siege of 
that place he won a civic crown for saving a citizen. On the 
death of Sylla he returned to Rome, and, after the custom of 
ambitious young Romans, he indicted Cn. Dolabella, for extor- 
tion in Macedonia. The Senatorial Jury acquitted Dolabella as 
a matter of course ; but the credit gained by the young Orator 
was great; and he went to Rhodes to study rhetoric under 
Molo, in whose school Cicero had lately been taking lessons. 
It was on his way to Rhodes that he fell into the hands of 
Cilician pirates. Redeemed by a heavy ransom, he collected 
some ships, attacked his captors, took them prisoners, and cru- 
cified them at Pergamus, according to a threat which he had 
made while he was their prisoner. About the year 74 b.c. he 
heard that he had been chosen as one of the Pontifices, and 
he instantly returned to Rome, where he remained for some 
years, leading a life of pleasure, taking little part in politics, but 
yet, by his Avinning manners and open-handed generosity, laying 
in a large store of popularity, and perhaps exercising an unseen 
influence over the events of the time. 

§ 2. It was in 67 b.c, as we have seen, that Pompey left the 
City to take the command against the Pirates. At the same 
time, Cfesar, being in his thirty-third year, was elected Quaestor, 
and signalised his year of office by a panegyric over his aunt 
Julia, the widow of Marius. His wife Cornelia died in the same 
year, and gave occasion to another funeral harangue. In both 
of these speeches the political allusions were evident; and he ven- 
tured to have the bust of Marius carried among his family images 

* He was already married to Cossutia, a ricli heiress, whom he divorced' 
to marry Cornelia. 



Chap. LXIV. CATILINE. 641 

for the first time since the Dictatorship of Sylla. In 65 e.c. 
he Avas elected Curule ^dile, -when he increased his popularity 
by exhibiting 320 pairs of gladiators, and conducting the games 
on a scale of unusual magnificence. The chief expense of these 
exhibitions Avas borne by his colleague, M. Bibulus, who com- 
plained that Caesar had all the credit of the shows, — "just as 
the temple of the Dioscuri, though belonging both to Castor and 
Pollux, bore the name of Castor only." But he did not confine 
himself to winning applause by theatrical sj)ectacles. As Curator 
of the Appian Way, he expended a large sum from his own 
resources. The Cimbrian trophies of Marius had been thrown 
down by Sylla, and no public remembrance existed of the ser- 
vices rendered to Rome by her greatest soldier. Cajsar ordered 
these trophies, Avith suitable iuscrij)tions, to be secretly restored ; 
and in one night he contrived to have them set up upon the 
Capitol, so that at daybreak men were astonished by the unac- 
customed sight. Old soldiers who had served with Marius shed 
tears. All the party opposed to Sylla and the Senate took heart 
at this boldness, and recognised their chief. So important was 
the matter deemed, that it Avas brought before the Senate, and 
Catulus accused Csesar of openly assaulting the Constitution. 
But nothing could be done to check his movements, for in all 
things he kept cautiously within the LaAv. 

§ 3. The year of his ^dileshij) Avas marked by the appearance 
of a man destined to an infamous notoriety, — L. Sergius Catilina, 
familiar to all under the name of Catiline. 

For some time after the death of Sylla the Aveariness and 
desire of repose which always folloAvs revolutionary movements 
had disposed all men to acquiesce in the rule established by 
the Dictator. But more than one class of persons found them- 
selves ill at case. First, the families proscribed by Sylla cherished 
the thoughts that they might recover Avhat they had lost, and 
the enthusiasm displayed when Csesar restored the trophies of 
Marius, revealed to the Senate the hopes of their political ene- 
mies. Secondly, there were a vast number of persons, formerly 
attached to Sylla, who shared the discontent of the Marian 
party. The Dictator left all real poAver in the hands of a fcAv 
great families. His own creatures Avere alloAved to amass money, 
but remained without political poAver ; and the upstarts Avho 
enjoyed a transient greatness under Sylla found theraseh^es 
reduced to obscurity. With the recklessness of men, Avho had 
become suddenly rich, they had squandered their fortunes as 
lightly as they had won them. These men were for the most 
part soldiers, and ready for any violence. They only wanted 
chiefs. These chiefs they found among the profligate members 



642 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book V 11. 

of noble families, who like themselves were excluded from the 
counsels of the respectable though narrow-minded men who 
composed the Senate and administered the government. These 
were the young Nobles, effeminate and debauched, reckless of 
blood, of whom Cicero speaks with horror.'" 

§ 4. Of these adventurers Catiline was the most remarkable. 
He belonged to an old Patrician Gens, and had distinguished 
himself both by valour and cruelty in the late Civil War. We 
have noticed how he is said to have murdered his own brother, 
and to have secured impunity by getting the name of his victim 
placed on the proscribed lists, as well as the ready zeal with which • 
he delivered up Marius Gratidianus to torture. A beautiful and 
profligate lady, by name Aurelia Orestilla, refused his proffered 
hand because he had a grown-up son by a former marriage ; 
this son speedily ceased to live. Notwithstanding his crimes, 
the personal qualities of Catiline gave him great ascendancy 
over all who came in contact with him. ^ His strength and 
activity were such, that he was superior to the soldiers at their 
own exercises, and could encounter skilled gladiators with their 
own weapons. His manners were frank, and he was never 
known to desert friends. By qualities so nearly resembling 
virtues, it is not strange that he deceived many, and obtained 
mastery over more. In 68 b.c. he was elected Praetor, and in 
the following year became Governor of the Province of Africa. 
Here he spent two years in the practice of every crime that is 
imputed to Roman Provincial rulers. During the year of Caesar's 
^dileship, Catiline was accused by the profligate P. Clodius 
Pulcher. He had intended in that year to offer himself Candi- 
date for the Consulship. But while this accusation was pending 
the Law forbade him to come forward ; and this obstacle so 
irritated him that he planned a new Revolution. 

§ 5. The Senatorial Chiefs, in their wish to restore outward 
decency, had countenanced the introduction of a severe Law to 
prevent Bribery by L. Calpurnius Piso. Under this law P. Cor- 
nelius Sulla and P. Autronius Paetus, Consuls-elect for 65 b.c, 
were indicted and found guilty. Their election was" declared 
void ; and their accusers were nominated Consuls by the Senate, 
without the formality of an election. Catiline found Autro- 
nius ready for any violence ; and these two entered into a con- 
spiracy with another profligate young Nobleman, by name Cn. 
Piso, to murder the new Consuls on the Calends of January, — 
the day on which they entered upon office, — and to seize the 
supreme authority for themselves. The scheme is said to have 

* "Libidinosa et delicata juventus," ad Att. i. 19, 8: "sanguinaria 
juveintus," ib. ii. V, 3. 



Chap. LXIV. CICERO'S CONSULSHIP. G43 

failed only because Catiline gave the signal of attack before the 
armed assassins had assembled in sufficient numbers. 

Catiline Avas acquitted on his trial, no doubt through the in- 
tentional misconduct* of the case by Clodius. Wc are astonished 
to read a private letter of Cicero's, in which the Orator expresses 
his willingness to act as Catiline's advocate.f Cicero's excuse is 
that in the next year he was to be Candidate for the Consul- 
ship ; if Catiline were acquitted he would be a competitor ; and 
it would be better to have him as a friend than as an enemy. 
This alone speaks loudly for the influence of Catiline ; for at the 
same time Cicero declares that his guilt was clear as noonday .J 

§ 6. There was indeed reason to fear Catiline's success. Five 
of the six Candidates who opposed him were men of little note. 
The sixth was Cicero, whose obscure birth was a strong objec- 
tion against him in the eyes of the Nobility. But there was 
no choice. C. Antonius, brother of M. Antonius Creticus and 
younger son of the Orator, was considered sure of his election; 
and he was inclined to form a coalition with Catiline. Cicero was 
supported by the Equites, by the friends of Pompey, whom he 
had served by his speech for the Manilian Law, and by a number 
of persons whom he had obliged by his services as Advocate. 
What part he had hitherto taken in politics had been decidedly 
in opposition to the Senate. But necessity knows no rule ; and 
to keep out Catiline, whom they feared, the Senatorial Chiefs 
resolved to support Cicero, Avhom they disliked. The personal 
popularity of the Orator and the support of the Aristocracy 
placed him at the head of the poll. Antonius Avas returned as 
his colleague, though he headed Catiline by the votes of very 
few Centuries. 

§ 7. We now come to the memorable year of Cicero's Consul- 
ship, 63 B.C. It was generally believed that Catiline's second 
disappointment Avould drive him to a second conspiracy. Imme- 
diately after his election, Cicero attached himself to the Senate 
and justified their choice. To detach Antonius from Catiline, 
he voluntarily ceded to him the lucrative Province of Macedonia, 
Avhich he had obtained by lot. But Catiline's measures were 
conducted with so much secrecy, that for several months no clue 
was obtained to his designs. 

* Prcevaricatio, as the Romans called it. 

f "Hoc tempore Catilinam, competitorem nostrum, defendere cogita- 
bamus .... Spero si absolutus erit, conjunctiorem ilium fore in ratione 
petitionis; sin aliter acciderit, bumaniter feremus." — Ad Att. i. 2, 3. The 
use of the imperfect cogitabamus indicates that Cicei'o's advocacy was either 
not really offered or not accepted. 

X '' Catilioa, si judicatum erit meridie non lucere, certus erit competitor." — 
Ad Att. i. 1, 2. 



644 CIVIL WARS : SECOND PERIOD. Book VIL 

Meantime Cicero had other difficulties to meet. Among the 
Tribunes of the year were two persons attached to Cgesar's 
party, Q. Servihus Rullus and T. Attius Labienus. The Tribunes 
entered upon their office nearly a month before the Consuls; 
and Rullus had already come forward with an Agrarian Law, to 
revive the measure of Cinna, and divide the Public Lands of 
Campania among the poor citizens. Cicero's devotion to his 
new friends was shown by the alacrity with which he opposed 
this measure. On the Calends of January, the very day upon 
which he entered office, he delivered an harangue against it in 
the Senate, which he followed up by speeches in the Forum.* 
He pleased himself by thinking that it was in consequence of 
these efforts that Rullus withdrew his bill. But it is probable 
that Caesar, the real author of the law, cared little for its success. 
In bringing it forward he secured favour for himself. In forcing 
Cicero to take part against it, he deprived the orator of a large 
portion of his popularity. 

§ 8. Soon after this, Caesar employed the services of Labienus 
to make an assault upon the arbitrary power assumed by the 
Senate in dangerous emergencies. It will be remembered that, 
in the sixth Consulship of Marius, the revolutionary enterprise 
of Saturninus had been put down by resorting to this arbitrary 
power. Labienus, whose uncle had perished by the side of 
Saturninus, now indicted C. Rabirius, an aged Senator, for 
having slain the Tribune. It was well known that the actual 
perpetrator of the deed Avas a slave, who had been publicly 
rewarded for his services. But Rabirius had certainly been one 
of the assailants, and he was indicted for High Treason [per- 
duellio). If he were found guilty, it would follow that all who 
hereafter obeyed the Senate in taking up arms against sedi- 
tious persons would be liable to a similar charge. The cause was 
tried before the Duumviri, one of whom was L. Csesar, Consul 
of the preceding year; the other was C. Caesar himself. Hor- 
tensius and Cicero defended the old Senator. It would seem 
almost impossible for Caesar to condemn Rabirius, seeing that 
Marius himself had led the attack against Saturninus. But Caesar 
was not troubled by scruples. The Duumviri found Rabirius 
guilty. 

From this judgment the old Senator appealed to the popular 
Assembly, Cicero came forward, in his Consular robes, to defend 
him. He was allowed only half-an-hour for his speech ; but the 
defence which he condensed into that narrow space was unan- 
swerable, and must have obtained a verdict for his client, if it 

* Fragments of three speeches De Lege Agraria remain. See Orelli's 
edition, ii. p. 52Y, sqq. 



Chap. LXIV. CICERO AND CATILINE. 645 

had been aclaressed to a calm audience. The People, however, 
"were eager to humiliate the Senate, and were ready to vote 
according to their present passion. Rabirius would certainly 
have been condemned, had not Q. Metellus Celer, Praetor of the 
City, taken down the standard Avhich from ancient times floated 
from the Janiculum during the sitting of the Comitia.* But 
Ca?sar's purpose was eftectually answered. The governing body 
had been humbled, and their right to place seditious persons 
under a sentence of outlawry had been called in question. 

§ 9. Cicero lost still more favour by the successful opposition 
which he oftered to an attempt to restore the sons of those who 
had been on the proscribed lists of Sylla. In this he served the 
purpose of the Senate by excluding from the Comitia their mortal 
enemies ; but he incurred many personal enmities, and he advo- 
cated a sentence which could be justified only by necessity. 

§ 10. About this time the age and infirmities of Metellus Pius 
made probable a vacancy in the high office of Pontifex Maximus ; 
and Labienus introduced a Law by which the right of election 
to this office was restored to the Tribes, according to the rule 
observed before Sylla's Revolution. When Metellus died, Caesar 
off'ered himself as a candidate for this high office. Catulus, Chief 
of the Senate, also came forward, as well as P. Servilius Isauri- 
cus. Csesar had been one of the Pontiffs from early youth : but 
he was known to be unscrupulous in his pleasures as in his politics, 
overwhelmed with debt, careless of religion. His election, how- 
ever, was a trial of political strength merely. It was considered 
so certain, that Catulus attempted to persuade him to withdraw 
by offering to pay his debts ; but Csesar peremptorily refused, 
saying that if he needed more money, he Avould borrow more. 
He probably anticipated that the Senate would use force to 
oppose him ; for on the morning of the election he parted from 
his mother Aurelia with the words, " I shall return as Pontifex 
Maximus, or not at all." His success was triumphant. Even 
in the Tribes to which his opponents belonged he obtained more 
votes than they counted altogether. No fact can more strongly 
prove the strength which the popular party had regained under 
his adroit but unseen management. It is worth noting that in 
this year was born his sister's son, M. Octavius, who reaped the 
fruit of all his ambitious endeavours. 

§ 11. The year was fast waning, and nothing was known to the 
public of any attempts on the part of Catiline. That dark and 

* A custom probably derived from the times when the Etruscans were foes 
of Rome. The removal of the standard was, in those times, a sign of the 
enemy's approach, and on this signal the Comitia centuriata became an army 
ready for battle. The form remained, though the reason had long passed by. 



646 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

enterprising person had offered himself a third time as Candi- 
date for the Consulship, and he was anxious not to stir till the 
result was known. But Cicero had become acquainted with a 
woman named Fulvia, mistress to Curius, one of Catiline's con- 
fidential friends, and by her means he obtained immediate 
knowledge of the designs of the conspirators. At length he 
considered them so far advanced, that on the 21st of October he 
assembled the Senate and laid all his information before them. 
On the next day a Decree Avas framed to invest the Consuls with 
Dictatorial power, but at present this Decree was kept secret. 

Soon after, the Consular Comitia were held, and the election 
of the Centuries fell on D. Junius Silanus and L. Licinius 
Murena, ■ adherents of the Senatorial party. Catiline, disap- 
pointed of his last hopes, convened his friends at the house of 
M. Porcius La3ca, on the nights of the 6th and 'Zth of November ;* 
and at this meeting it was determined to proceed to action. 
C. Mallius, an old Centurion, who had been employed in levying 
troops secretly in Etruria, was sent to Fsesulse, and ordered to 
prepare for war; Catiline and his associates were to organise 
movements within the City. 

Cicero, informed of these resolutions through Fulvia, resolved 
to dally no longer with the peril. He summoned the Senate to 
meet on the 8th of November in the Temple of Jupiter Stator. 
Catiline, with marvellous effrontery, appeared in his place as a 
Senator ; but every one quitted the bench and left him alone. 
Cicero now rose, and delivered that famous speech which is en- 
titled his First Oration against Catiline. The conspirator rose to 
reply; but a general shout of execrafion prevented him. Unable 
to obtain a hearing, he left the Senate-house ; and, perceiving that 
his life was in danger at Rome, he summoned his associates 
together, handed over the execution of his designs to M. Len- 
tulus Sura, Prsetor of the City, and C. Cethegus, and left Rome 
before morning to join Mallius at Faesula^. On the following 
morning Cicero assembled the People in the Forum, and in his 
Second Speech told them of the flight of Catiline. 

§ 12. The Senate now made a second Decree, in which Catiline 
was proclaimed a Public Enemy ; and the Consul Antonius was 
directed to take the command of an army destined to act against 
him, while to Cicero was committed the care of the City. Cicero 
was at a loss ; for he was not able to bring forward Fulvia as a 

* Our nth of Jan. 62 e.g. In this and all following dates correction must 
be made to obtain the real time. The Roman 1st of January of this year would 
be by our reckoning the 14th of March. It must be observed also that the 
Romans reckoned the mght as belonging to the following day. What we call 
the night of the 6th of November would be with them the night of the Ith. 



Chap. LXIV. CICERO AND CATILINE. 647 

Avitness, and after the proceedings against Rabirius he feared 
resorting to the use of Dictatorial power. But at this moment 
he obtained direct evidence against the conspirators. There 
■were then present at Rome ambassadors from the Allobroges, 
■whose business it "was to solicit relief from the debts which that 
people had incurred to the Roman Treasury. The Senate heard 
them coldly, and Lentulus took advantage of their discontent 
to stir them to insurrection. At first they lent ear to his offers, 
but thought it prudent to disclose the matter to Q. Fabius 
Sanga, whose family was engaged to protect their interests at 
Rome.* Fabius commimicated with Cicero. By the Consul's 
directions, the Allobrogian Envoys continued their intrigue with 
Lentulus, and demanded written orders, signed by the chief 
conspirators, to serve as credentials to their nation. Bearing 
these documents, they set out from Rome on the evening of the 
3rd of December (oth of Feb., 62 b.c), accompanied by one T. Vul- 
turcius, who carried letters from Lentulus to Catiline. Cicero 
ordered the Praetors, L. Flaccus and C. Pomptinus, to take post 
upon the Mulvian Bridge. Here the Envoys were arrested, and 
all their papers seized. 

§ 13. Early next morning, Cicero sent for Lentulus, Cethegus, 
and the others who had signed the Allobroo-ian credentials. 
Ignorant of what had passed, they came ; and the Consul, hold- 
ing the Prsetor Lentulus by the hand, and followed by the rest, 
went straight to the Temple of Concord, where he had sum- 
moned the Senate to meet. "Vulturcius and the Allobrogian 
Envoys were now brought in, and the Praetor Flaccus produced 
the papers which he had seized. The evidence was brought so 
clearly to a point, that the Conspirators confessed their hand- 
writing ; and the Senate decreed that Lentulus should be de- 
prived of his Prfetorship, and that all the prisoners should be 
put into the hands of eminent Senators, who were to be answer- 
able for their persons. Then Cicero went forth into the Forum, 
and in his Third Speech detailed to the assembled People all the 
circumstances "which had been discovered. Not only had two 
Knights been commissioned by Cethegus to kill Cicero in his 
chamber, a fate which the Consul elucled by refusing them ad- 
mission, but it had 'also been resolved to set the City on fire in 
twelve places at once, as soon as it was known that Catiline and 
Mallius were ready to advance at the head of an armed force. 
Lentulus, who belonged to the great Cornelian Gens, had been 
buoyed up by a Sibylline prophecy, which promised the dominion 
over Rome to " three Cs :" he was to be the third Cornelius 

* They had been conquered by Q. Fabius Maximus, nephe"sv of Scipio 
^milianus. See Chapt. Iiv. § 4. 



648 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

after Cornelius Cinna and Cornelius Sylla. But it was to his 
remissness tliat Cethegus attributed their failure ; and it is pro- 
bable, that if the conduct of the business had been left to this 
desperate man,* some attempt at a rising would have been made. 

The certainty of danger and the feeling of escape filled all 
hearts with indignation against the Catilinarian gang ; and for a 
moment Cicero and the Senate rose to- the height of popularity. 

§ 14. Two days after (Dec. 5=Feb. V, 62 e.g.), the Senate was 
once more summoned to decide the fate of the captive conspi- 
rators. Silanus, as Consul-elect, was first asked his opinion, and 
he gave it in favour of Death. Ti. Nero moved that the ques- 
tion should be adjourned. Caesar, who was then Preetor-elect, 
spoke against capital punishment and proposed that the prisoners 
should be condemned to perpetual chains in various cities of 
Italy, — taking care to remind the Senate that their power to 
inflict the penalty of death was questionable. His speech pro- 
duced such an effect, that even Silanus declared his intention 
to accede to Nero's motion. But Cicero and Cato delivered 
vehement arguments in favour of extreme punishment, and the 
majority voted with them. Immediately after the vote, the 
Consul, with a strong guard, conveyed the prisoners to the 
loathsome dungeon, called the Tullianum, and here they were, 
strangled by the public executioners. 

It is difficult to see how the State could have been imperilled 
by suff"ering the culprits to live, at least till they had been 
allowed the chances of a regular trial. If Kabirius was held 
guilty for assisting in the assault upon Saturninus, a man who 
was actually in arms against the government, what had Cicero 
to expect from those who were ready to deliver this verdict? 
It was not long before he had cause to rue his over-zealous 
haste. But for the moment, the popular voice ratified the judg- 
ment of Cato, when he proclaimed Cicero to have deserved the 
title of " Father of his Country." 

§ 15. Before the close of the year, the Consul-elect Murena 
was indicted by C. Sulpicius, one of his competitors, for Bribery, 
and the accusation was supported by Cato. Hortensius and 
Cicero undertook the defence. Cicero's speech is extant; and 
the buoyant spirits, with which he assails the legal pedantry of 
Sulpicius and the impracticable Stoicism of Cato, show how highly 
he was elated by his success in crushing the conspiracy. There 
can be no doubt that Murena was guilty. The only argument 
of force used in his defence by Cicero, was that it was dangerous 
to leave the State with one Consul when Catiline was in the 

* "Manus vesana Cethegi," Lucan ii. 5i3; eomp. Cie. in Catil. iv. 6. 



Chap. LXIV. CRASSUS AND C^SAR. 049 

field. And this argument probably it was tliat procured the 
acquittal of the Consul-elect. 

§ 16. The sequel may be briefly related. Before the execution 
of his accomplices, Catiline was at the head of two complete 
Legions, consisting chiefly of Sylla's veterans. When news of 
the failure of the plot reached the insurgents, many deserted ; 
and Catiline endeavoured to retreat into Cisalpine Gaul, But the 
passes were beset by the Pro-prtetor Metellus Celer ; the Consul 
Antonius was close behind ; and it became necessary either to 
fight or surrender. Catiline chose the braver course. His small 
army was drawn up with skill. Antonius, mindful of former 
intimacy with Catiline, alleged illness as a plea for giving up the 
command of his troops to M. Petreius, a skilful soldier. A short 
but desperate conflict followed. Mallius fell fighting bravely. 
Catiline, seeing that the day was lost, rushed into the thick of 
battle and also fell Avith many wounds. He was found, still 
breathing, with a menacing frown stamped upon his brow. None 
were taken prisoners ; all who died had their wounds in front. 

§ lY. It is impossible to part from this history without adding 
a word with respect to the part taken by Caesar and Crassus. 
Both these eminent persons were supposed to have been more 
or less privy to Catiline's designs ; if the first conspiracy attri- 
buted to Catiline had succeeded, we are told that the assassins 
of the Consuls had intended to declare Crassus Dictator, and that 
Caesar was to be Master of the Horse. And many believed that 
he at least, if not Crassus also, was guilty. 

Nothing seems more improbable than that Crassus should have 
countenanced a plan which involved the destruction of the city, 
and which must have been followed by the ruin of credit. He 
had constantly employed the large fortune which he had amassed 
in the Syllan Proscription for the purposes of speculation and 
jobbing. To a money-lender and speculator, a violent Revolu- 
tion, attended by destruction of property and promising abolition 
of debts, would be of all things the least desirable. Crassus 
was not without ambition, but he never gratified the lust of 
power at the expense of his purse. 

The case against Csesar bears at first sight more likelihood. 
Sallust represents Cato as hinting that Csesar's wish to spare 
the conspirators arose fi'om his complicity with them. In the 
next year (62 b.c.) after Caesar had entered upon his Praetorship, 
a person named Vettius, employed by Cicero as a spy, offered 
to produce a letter from Caesar to Catiline, which would prove 
his guilt. Cicero and the more prudent of the Senators wished 
at once to quash these tales. But Caesar would not be content 
with this, and in full Senate he called on the Ex-consul to state 

28 



650 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

•what lie knew of the matter. Cicero rose, and declared that so 
far from Csesar being implicated in the plot, he had done all that 
could be expected from a good citizen to assist in crushing it. 
The People, having learnt what was the question before the 
Senate, crowded to the doors of the House and demanded Caesar's 
safety. His appearance assured them, and he was welcomed 
with loud applause. It was only by his interference that Vettius 
was saved from being torn in pieces. 

In truth, of evidence to prove Caesar's complicity with Cati- 
line there was none ; and the farther the case is examined, the 
less appears to be the probability of such complicity. The 
course he had pursued for the purpose of undermining the power 
of the Senate had been so successful, that he was little likely to 
abandon it for a scheme of reckless violence, from which others 
would reap the chief -advantage. Even if Catiline had succeeded, 
he must have been crushed by Pompey, who was just returning 
to Italy at the head of his victorious Legions. The desire of 
Csesar "to save the lives of Lentulus and the rest is at once 
explained, when we remember that he had just before promoted 
the prosecution df Rabirius. As the leader of the popular party, 
it was his cue always and everywhere to protest against the 
absolute power assumed by the Senate, as unconstitutional and 
illegal. It is possible that he may have suspected the designs 
of Catiline, and he may have been sounded by that reckless 
person as a well-known opponent of the Senate. But without 
claiming for Csesar any credit for principle, we may safely con- 
clude that it was not expedient for him to have any dealings 
with Catiline ; and we may be sure that he was the last _ man to 
be misled into a rash enterprise which v^ not expedient for 
himself. 




C. Julius Caesar. 



CHAPTER LXV. 



POMPEY s keturn: first triumvirate: c^sar s consulship: 

CLODIUS. (62 58 B.C.) 

§ 1. Cicero's vanity: coldness of Pompey: Metellus Nepos, Tribune, attacks 
Cicero. § 2. Caesar departs for Spain: Return of Pompey, his caution: 
Crassus lauds Cicero. § 3. Senate offends Pompey, (1) by refusing to 
confirm bis Acts in the East, (2) by thwarting provision proposed for his 
Veterans. § 4. Caesar in Spain. § 5. He returns to stand for the Con- 
sulship : First Triumvirate. § 6. Caesar's La-w to provide for Pompey's 
Veterans : opposition of Senate frustrated. § 1. Caesar's Law to confirm 
Pompey's Acts. § 8. Aaother to excuse Equites from a hard bargain. 
§ 9. Vatinian Law, investing Caesar with government of Cisalpine Gaul 
and Illyria for five years : Senate add Province of Transalpine Gaul. § 10. 
Marriage of Pompey and Julia: Perplexity of Cicero. § 11. Violation of 
Mysteries of Bona Dea by Clodius : Cicero speaks against him : he is made 
Plebeian by Caesar's influence: elected Tribune. § 12. Cicero, threatened 
by a Bill of penalties for putting Catilinarians to death, goes into exile. 
§ 13. Cato: his character: sent to annex Cyprus to the Empire. § 14. 
Democratic measures of Clodius. 

§ 1. In the first heat of liis triumph, Cicero disclosed the weak- 
ness of his character. He was full of vanity, a quality which 
above all others deprives a man of the influence which may 



652 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book Vlt 

otherwise be due to integrity, industry, and ability. The Senators 
were irritated by hearing Cicero repeat: — "I am the Saviour of 
Eome ; I am the Father of my Country." Pompey also, now on 
the eve of returning to Italy, had been watching Cicero's rise, 
not without jealousy. Metellus Nepos, his Legate, had already 
returned to Rome with instructions from his Chief, and had been 
elected Tribune for the next year. Cicero, in the fulness of his 
heart, wrote Pompey a long account of his Consulate, in which 
he had the ill address to compare his triumph over Catiline with 
Pompey's Eastern Conquests. The General took no notice of 
Cicero's actions ; and the Orator wrote him a submissive letter, 
in which he professes his hope of playing Lselius to his great 
correspondent's Africanus. Meanwhile Metellus Nepos made 
no secret of his disapproval of Cicero's conduct in putting citizens 
to death without trial. On the Calends of January, when the 
Ex-consul quitted office and intended to have delivered an elabo- 
rate panegyric on himslef and the Senate, the Tribune inter- 
dicted him from speaking. He could do nothing more than 
step forward and swear aloud that " he alone had preserved the 
Republic." The people, not yet recovered from the fear of 
Catiline and his crew, shouted in answer that he had sworn the 
truth. 

Metellus Nepos followed up this assault by two Bills, — k ne 
empowering Pompey to be elected Consul for the second time in 
his absence , the other investing him with the command in Italy 
for the purpose of quelling the Insurrection of Catiline. Csesar 
supported these motions : But when Nepos began to read them 
previously to submitting them to the votes of the Assembly, Cato, 
also one of the Tribunes for the year, snatched the paper from 
the hand of his CoUeagTie, and tore it in pieces. Nepos then 
began to recite his Laws from memory; but another Tribune 
placed his hand over his mouth. A tumult followed ; and for 
the time the Senate triumphed over Pompey. 

§ 2. On laying down his Prsetorship, Caesar obtained Spain for 
his Province. His debtors threatened to detain him. In this 
emergency he applied to Crassus ; and Crassus, believing in the 
fortune of Csesar, advanced the required sums, so that the 
Pro-prsetor set out for Spain at the beginning of 61 e.g. 

Pompey had arrived in Italy, but not at Rome. Great appre- 
hensions were felt there; 'for he was as silent on political matters 
as Monk on the eve of the Restoration, and his intentions were 
suspected. But at Brundusium he addressed his soldiers, thanked 
them for their services, and dismissed them to their homes till 
it was time for them to attend his Triumph. He then set out 
for Rome, accompanied by a few friends. Outside the walls he 



Chap. LXV. POMPEY'S RETURN. 65;, 

halted, and asked permission from tlie Senate to enter the City, 
as Sylla had done, without forfeiting his chiim to a Triumph, 
Cato opposed the application, and it was refused. Pompey 
therefore remained outside the Avails ; and his Triumph, the 
third which he had enjoyed, did not take place till the end of 
September. It lasted two days, and the sum of money paid into 
the Treasury exceeded all former experience. After the Triumph 
he addressed speeches both to the Senate and to the People, so 
cautiously framed, that no one could form any conclusion with 
respect to his intentions ; in particular, he avoided expressing 
any opinion with respect to the part taken against the Catilinarian 
conspirators. Crassus, always jealous of Pompey, took advantage 
of his rival's reserve to pronounce a panegyric upon Cicero ; and 
this gave the Orator an opportunity of delivering the speech 
which he had prepared for the Calends of January. Cicero sat 
down amid cheers from all sides of the House. It was probably 
the happiest moment of his life.* 

§ 3. The Consuls-elect were L. Afranius, an old officer of 
Pompey, and Q. Metellus Celer, elder brother of Nepos.f The 
chief officers of State, therefore, were likely to be at the beck of 
the great Eastern Conqueror. But Afranius had no political 
influence, and Metellus Celer, exasperated because Pompey had 
divorced his sister, sided with the Senate. Caesar was in Further 
Spain : Crassus was ready to oppose Pompey ; and the game, if 
prudently played, might have been won by the Senatorial leaders. 
But about this time they lost Catulus ; and the blind obstinacy 
of Metellus Celer, Cato, and others, converted Pompey from his 
cold neutrality into a warm antagonist. 

During his stay in the East after the death of Mithridates, he 
had formed Provinces and re-distributed kingdoms without the 
assistance of a Senatorial Commission. He now applied to have 
his arrangements confirmed by the Senate. But LucuUus and 
Metellus Creticus, irritated at seeing that in the blaze of his 
triumphant success their own unquestionable merits had been 
forgotten, spoke warmly in the Senate of the appropriation of 
their labours by Pompey, and persuaded the majority to with- 
hold the desired confirmation. At the same time an Agrarian 
Law, proposed by L. Flavins, a Tribune, to assign certain lands in 
guerdon to Pompey's veteran soldiers, was opposed by the Consul 
Metellus Celer with rancorous determination. Pompey, who dis- 

* For a lively description of the whole scene, see Cicero ad Att. i. 14. 
\ It was from this year that Pollio began his History of this Civil War : — • 

"Motum ex Metello Consule civicum, - 
Bellique causas," etc. — Herat. Od. ii. 1. 



654 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

liked popular tumults, suffered the measure to be withdrawn, and 
brooded over the insult in haughty silence. 

§ 4, Caesar had taten his departure for Spain before Pompey's 
return. In that Province he availed himself of some disturb- 
ances on the Lusitanian border to declare war against that 
gallant people. He overran their country, and turned his arms 
against the Gallaecians, who seem to have been unmolested since 
the days of Dec. Brutus. In two campaigns he became master 
of spoils sufficient not only to pay off a great portion of his 
debts, but also to enrich his soldiery. There can be no doubt 
that he must have acted with great severity to wring these large 
sums from the native Spaniards : indeed he never took thought 
for the sufferings of people not subject to Roman sway. But 
he was careful not to be guilty of oppression towards the Pro- 
vincials ; and his rule in the Spanish Provinces was long re- 
marked for its equitable adjustment of debts due to Roman 
Tax-collectors. 

§ 5. He left Spain in time to reach Rome before the Consular 
Elections of the year 60 b.c. — for he intended to present him- 
self as a candidate. But he claimed a Triumph, and therefore 
applied to the Senate for leave to sue for the Consulship without 
appearing personally in the City. The Senate was disposed to 
grant this request ; but Cato adjourned the question by speaking 
against time ; and Caesar, who scorned appearance in comparison 
with reality of power, relinquished his Triumph and entered the 
City. He found Pompey in high dudgeon with the Senate ; and 
to strengthen their hands, proposed to include Crassus in their 
political union. The advances made by Crassus to Cicero and to 
the Senate had been ill received, and he lent a ready ear to the 
overtures of the dexterous negotiator who now addressed him. 
Pompey, at the instance of Caesar, relinquished the old enmity 
which he bore to Crassus ; and thus was formed that famous 
Cabal which is commonly, though improperly, called the First 
Triumvirate.* 

Thus supported secretly by the power of Pompey and the 
wealth of Crassus, and borne onward by his own popularity, Caesar 
was elected to the Consulship by acclamation. But the Senatorial 
Chiefs exhausted every art of intrigue and bribery to secure the 
return of M. Calpurnius Bibulus, known to be a man of unflinch- 
ing resolution, as his colleague, He was son-in-law to Cato, who 
to obtain a political advantage did not hesitate to sanction the 
corrupt practices which on other occasions he loudly denounced. 

* Improperly, because it was a secret combination, and not an open 
assumption of political power, such as to Roman ears was implied in the 
Word Triumvirate. 



Chap. LXV. FIRST TRIUMVIRATE. G55 

Bibulus was elected; and from the antagonism of the two 
Consuls, the approaching year seemed big with danger. 

§ 0. Cajsar began the acts of his Consulship by a measure so 
adroitly drawn up as to gratify at once his own adherents and 
Pompey. It was an Agrarian Law, framed on the model of that 
which had been proposed last year by Pompey's agents. Before 
bringing it forward in the Assembly he read it over clause by 
clause in the Senate, and not even Cato was able to find fault. 
But Bibulus declared that the measure should not pass while he 
was Consul, and therefore refused to sanction any further meet- 
ings of the Senate. Csesar, unable to convene the great Council 
Avithout his colleague, threw himself upon the People, and enlarged 
his Agrarian Law to the dimensions of the Laws formerly pro- 
posed by Cinna and by RuUus. Cicero now took alarm, and the 
Senatorial Order united in opposition to any distribution of their 
favourite Campanian lands. On the day appointed for taking 
the votes of the People, the most violent of the Oligarchy met at 
the house of Bibulus, whence they sallied into the Forum and 
attempted to dissolve the Assembly by force. But Caesar 
ordered his Lictors to arrest Cato, and the rest were obliged to 
seek safety in flight. After another vain attempt to stop pro- 
ceedings, on pretence of the auguries, Bibulus shut himself up in 
his house for the remainder of his term of office, and contented 
himself with protesting from time to time against the acts of his 
Colleague. After this victory, Csesar called upon Pompey and 
Crassus before the whole Assembly to express their opinions 
with respect to the Bill. Pompey warmly approved it, and 
declared that if others drew swords to oppose it he would cover 
it with his shield. Crassus spoke in a similar strain. After this 
public manifestation of the union of the Triumvirs all oppo- 
sition ceased. The Bill became Law, and Caesar forced every 
Senator to swear obedience to its provisions. Even Cato com- 
plied, and Cicero looked on in blank perplexity. 

§ 7. Csesar followed up this successful movement by procuring 
from the People a full acknowledgment of Pompey's Acts in the 
East. Here again what the Senate had captiously refused was 
skilfully employed to cement the union of the Triumvirs. 

§ 8. The next step taken by the dexterous Consul was to 
establish his credit with another class in the community, the 
Equites, who also (it may be observed) were especially favoured 
both by Pompey and Cicero. The Orator, during his Consulship, 
endeavoured to eff"ect a union between the Senatorial and Eques- 
trian Orders. The Tax-collectors had made a high offer for the 
taxes of Asia at the last auction ; they prayed to be let off" their 
contract, and Cicero undertook their cause. But Cato opposed 



656 CIVIL "WARS : SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

it with all his force, and the Equites were held strictly to their 
bargain. At Caesar's suggestion a Law was now passed, re- 
mitting a third part of what they had agreed to give. Here, 
also, the favour which the Senate might have achieved by a 
gracious act was transferred to their most dangerous enemy. 

§ 9. Before he quitted office, Cassar determined to provide for 
his future power. The Senate had assigned him the insignificant 
province of managing the forests and public pastures of Italy. 
But the Tribune Vatinius, his creature, proposed a Law by which 
Csesar was specially invested, as Proconsul, with the government 
of Cisalpine Gaul and lUyricum, and the command of two Le- 
gions ; and this government was conferred upon him for the ex- 
traordinary term of five years. No doubt his purpose in obtain- 
ing this Province was to remain as near Rome as possible, and by 
means of the troops under his orders, to assume a commanding- 
position with regard to Roman politics. Circumstances unex- 
pectedly enlarged his sphere of action, and enabled him to add 
to his political successes the character of a triumphant General. 
For some time past there had been threatening movements in 
Transalpine Gaul. The AUobrogians, who had been treated 
with little consideration after the Catilinarian conspiracy, had 
endeavoured to redress their grievances by arms, and had been 
subdued by Pomptinus, one of the Praetors employed by Cicero at 
the Mulvian Bridge. The JEduans, who inhabited modern Bur- 
gundy, though in alliance with Rome, were suspected of having 
favoured this revolt. On the banks of the Rhine the Suevi, a 
powerful German Tribe, were threatening inroads which revived 
the memory of the Cimbric and Teutonic times ; and the Hel- 
vetians were moving uneasily within their narrow borders. An 
able and active commander was required to meet these various 
dangers; and the Senate probably thought that by removing 
Caesar to a distant, perilous, and uncertain war, they might 
expose him to the risk of failure, or that absence might diminish 
the prestige of his name. They therefore added the Province of 
Transalpine Gaul, with an additional Legion, to the Provinces 
already conferred upon him by popular Vote. Pompey and 
Crassus supported the Decree, a fact which perhaps caused the 
Senate to repent of their liberality. 

§ 10. Pompey, we have said, had divorced his wife Caecilia, 
and Caesar took advantage of this circumstance to cement his 
union with Pompey by offering him the hand of Julia, his young 
and beautiful daughter. Pompey accepted the offer, and had no 
reason to repent as a husband, whatever may be thought of its 
effect on his public career. So far, Cicero had still hoped against 
hope in Pompey. In his letters, he represents his union with 



Chap. LXV. FIRST TRIUMVIRATE. 657 

Pompey as so close, that the young men nicknamed the great 
general Cnccus Cicero;* he professes his unshaken confidence in 
his illustrious friend ; he even hopes that they may be able to 
reform Cassar. His confidence is shaken by Pompey's approba- 
tion of Ca3sar's Agrarian Law ; and he begins to fear that the 
great Eastern Conqueror, — Sampsiceranus, Alabarches, the Jeru- 
salemitef (such are the names Avhich he uses to indicate the 
haughty bearing of Pompey), — is aiming at a tyranny. Still he 
continues to hope that the great man "vvill at length declare 
himself for the Senate, till at length he is roused from these 
Avaking dreams by the marriage of Pompey with Julia, and by 
the approach of personal danger to himself. 

§ 11. Caesar, during his Prajtorship, had lent the house which 
belonged to him as Chief Pontifi' for the celebration of the 
mysteries of the Bona Dea, — rites at which it was not lawful for 
any but women to be present. Young App. Clodius, the same 
who had promoted mutiny in the army of Lucullus, either had 
or aspired to have an intrigue with Pompeia,J Csesar's wife, and 
contrived to enter the forbidden precincts disguised as a singing 
girl. He was discovered by his voice ; and the matter was 
important enough to be referred to the Senate. But nothing 
Avas done till the next year, Avhen Clodius was Quaestor. He Avas 
then brought to trial, and pleaded an alibi. Csesar and Cicero 
Avere summoned as Avitnesses against him. Caesar had divorced 
his Avife in consequence of the afiair. But professed ignorance of 
all that had passed. "Why then," it was asked, "have you put 
aw^ay your wife ?" — a question to which he gave the famous 
reply : — " Cassar's wife must be above suspicion." Cicero, on the 
other hand, Avho justly detested the profligate character of the 
accused, said that he had seen and spoken Avith Clodius on that 
very day at Rome. He thus overthrew the plea of alibi, and 
followed up his evidence by pointed speeches in the Senate. 
There was no doubt of the guilt of Clodius. But the matter 
was treated as a trial of political strength ; he was acquitted ; 
and, before Caesar's Consulship, he had conceived the desire of 
becoming Tribune of the Plebs, so as to satisfy his vengeance 
upon Cicero. But his Patrician pedigree — sole relic of the old 
distinction between the Orders — forbade his election to this 
office. Csesar, in the first instance, attempted to gain the 

* AdAtt.i. 16, 11. 

•j- Ibid. ii. 9, 1 ; 14, 1 ; 16, 2, &c. Sampsiceramis was the King of Emesa in 
Syria, Strabo, xvi. p. 1092. Alabarches {Ibid. ii. 17, 3), an Oriental name 
for the collector of certain dues and taxes. 

^ She Avas no way related to Pompey, being the daughter of Pompeius 
Rufus, Sylla's son-in-law. 



■ 658 CIVIL WARS : SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

support of Cicero, as lie had gained the support of Pompey, 
by promises. The Orator received these advances with plea- 
sure, more, however, in the hope of converting the popular 
statesman than with any thought of being converted. But 
Caesar was not the man to be led by Cicero. He soon saw the 
Orator's drift, and endeavoured to alarm him by threatening to 
support a Law for making Clodius a Plebeian. But Cicero still 
relied on Pompey, and soon after provoked Caesar to fulfil his 
threat. C. Antonius, Cicero's Colleague in the Consulship, had 
lately returned from his Macedonian Government. He had been 
guilty of more than the usual measure of extortion and oppres- 
sion, and Clodius sought popularity by impeaching him. Cicero 
appeared as his Advocate, and took occasion to contrast his own 
forgotten services in the Catilinarian conspiracy with the present 
condition of public affairs. An immediate report of this speech 
was conveyed to Caesar. It was delivered at noon, and the same 
afternoon Caesar gave his consent to the Law for making Clodius 
a Plebeian. Presently after, the reckless Noble was elected 
Tribune for the ensuing year, that is for 58 b.c. Cicero was in 
consternation. 

The Consular Elections were equally disheartening. Caesar 
had lately espoused Calpurnia, daughter of L. Piso. This man 
was chosen Consul, together with Au. Gabinius, who had moved 
the Law for conferring the command over the Mediterranean 
upon Pompey. It was evident that these Consuls, one the 
father-in-law of Caesar, the other a creature of Pompey, would 
be mere tools of the Triumviral Cabal. 

§ 12. In December Clodius entered upon office as Tribune. 
Caesar did not set out for his Province before the end of March 
in the next year (58 B.C.). In the course of these three months 
he used Clodius as an instrument for removing from Rome the 
persons most likely to thwart his policy. Close to the gates lay 
the Legions which he had levied for service in Gaul, ready, if 
need were, to support Clodius in the Forum. 

The first person assailed was Cicero. Caesar was willing to 
spare the Orator the rude assaults of Clodius. He therefore 
offered him first one of the commissionerships for executing 
the Agrarian Law, and then a lieutenancy under himself in Gaul. 
But Cicero declined both off'ers; and Caesar determined to re- 
move him from Rome, left him to the mercies of the Tribune. 
Clodius gave notice of a Bill, enacting that any magistrate who 
had put Roman Citizens to death without regular trial should 
be banished from Italy, thus embodying in a law the principle 
which Caesar had maintained by the indictment of Rabirius. 
At first Cicero trusted to Pompey and his own imaginary 



Chap. LXV. FIRST TRIUMVIRATE. 659 

popularity. But the haste with which Cicero had acted had 
been condemned by Pompey even before his league with Cajsar ; 
and many who had applauded Cicero at the time now took part 
with Clodius. Finding also that the Tribune was supported by 
CjBsar in the background, the frightened Orator put on mourning, 
and canvassed for acquittal. Great part of the Senators and 
Knights followed his example ; but Clodius persevered, and the 
Consuls ordered the mourners to resume their usual apparel. 
As a last chance, Cicero appealed to Pompey himself, who main- 
tained the cold reserve which he had affected ever since his 
return, and told him, with bitter mockery, to seek assistance from 
the Consuls. In this desperate case he held counsel with his 
friends. The Senators felt that Cicero's cause was their own, and 
repented of the coldness they had shown him of late. LucuUus 
shook off his luxurious indolence for a moment, and advised an 
appeal to arms. But, after full deliberation, even Cato recom- 
mended the Orator to quit Italy, and wait for better times. He 
complied with a heavy heart, — for Rome, the Forum, and the 
Senate-House, were all the world to him, — and left the capital 
before Caesar's departure for his Province. No sooner was his 
back turned, than Sex. Clodius, a client of the audacious Tribune, 
brought in a second Bill, by which Cicero was expressly attacked 
by name. He was forbidden to approach within 400 miles of 
Eome : all w^ho harboured him within those limits were sub- 
jected to heavy penalties : all his property was confiscated : his 
favourite house on the Palatine, his villas at Tusculum and at 
Formiae, were to be destroyed. The great Orator lingered on the 
southern shores of his beloved Italy, in hope that his friends might 
even yet bafiie the designs of Clodius. But his hope faded and 
vanished. In his letters he pours forth unmanly lamentations ; 
accuses all, — Cato, Hortensius, even his friend Atticus ; refuses 
to see his brother Quintus ; and seriously debates the question 
of suicide. Atticus began to be alarmed for his friend's sanity. 
At length he crossed the sea, and sought refuge at Thessalonica. 

§ 13. The next person to be disposed of was Cato. This 
remarkable man has already come before us on one or two occa- 
sions which serve to indicate his character. He was great- 
grandson of the old Censor, and resembled him in many points, 
though he wanted the political shrewdness of his ancestor. He 
was five years younger than Caesar, and at present therefore 
not more than thirty-seven years of age. From the time when 
his speech determined the fate of Catiline, his strong will had 
made him one of the leaders of the Senatorial Oligarchy ; and 
after the death of Catulus, he took the most determined part 
in opposing the popular party. But his Stoic Philosophy almost 



660 



CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. 



Book VII. 



unfitted him for the political life of that dissolute age. He 
applied the rules of Zeno's inflexible logic to politics as to 
mathematics, without regard to times or persons or places, and 
treated questions of mere expedience as if they were matters of 
moral right and wrong. At times, however, party spirit over- 
came even Cato's scruples, and to gain a political victory he 
forgot the rules of his philosophy. 

No accusation could be brought against Cato as against 
Cicero ; and therefore, to remove him from Rome, he was 
charged with a business of apparent honour. Ptolemy, brother 
of the King of Egypt, was Prince of Cyprus ; and when Clodius 
was in the hands of the pirates this Prince contributed the 
paltry sum of two talents towards his ransom. The Tribune, 
who never forgot or forgave, now brought in a Law, by which 
Cyprus was annexed to the Roman Empire ; and Cato, though 
he had held no Curule office, was invested with Praetorian rank 
for the execution of this iniquitous business. Cato pretended 
not that he was ignorant of the real purpose of this mission. 
But he declared himself ready to obey the Law, left Rome soon 
after Cicero's departure, and remained absent for about two 
years. When, therefore, Caesar set out for Gaul, the Senate was 
left in a state of paralysis from the want of leaders. 

§ 14. After Caesar's departure, Clodius pursued his democratic 
measures without let or hindrance. He abolished the Law of the 
Comitial Auspices by which Bibulus had attempted to thwart 
Caesar. He distributed fhe Libertines and City-rabble into all 
the Tribes. He restored the trade-unions and companies, which 
had been abolished by the Senate nine years before. He gave 
such an extension to the unwise Corn-law of C. Gracchus, that 
grain, instead of being sold at a low rate, was distributed 
gratuitously to all citizens of Rome. For the time Clodius was 
master of Rome. Caesar was in Gaul. Neither Pompey nor 
Crassus stirred hand or foot to interfere. 




Coin of Casar. 




Coin to commemorate Conquest of Gaul. 



CHAPTER LXVI. 

c^sAR IN gaul: breach between pompey and c^sae. 
(58—50 B.C.) 

§ 1. Caesar expels Helvetians and Suevians from Gaul. § 2. Conquest oi 
Belgians. § 3. Conquest of coast-land ft-om North to Loire. § 4. Csesai 
holds court at Lucca during winters. § 5. Quarrel of Pompey with Clodius. 
§ 6. Recall of Cicero. § '7. Dearness of corn at Rome : Pompey made con- 
troller of the market for five years. § 8. Cicero proposes to annul acts of 
Clodius : opposition of Cato. § 9. Commission to restore Ptolemy Auletea 
to thi'one of Egypt. § 10. Donaitius candidate for Consulship : his hostility 
to Caesar: meeting of Triumvirs at Lucca. § 11. ISTo Consuls elected 
for 56 B.C. : Pompey and Crassus assume the Consulship. § 12. Trebo- 
nian Law, granting Spain to Pompey and Syria to Crassus for five years ; 
prolongation of Caesar's command. § 13. Splendid shows exhibited by 
Pompey. § 14. Cicero joins Triumvirs. § 15, Death of Julia. § 16. 
Crassus leaves Rome for the East. § 1*7. Campaign of Crassus in Parthia* 
his death. § 18. Caesar's expedition into Germany. § 19. Into Britain. 
§ 20. Final conquest of Gaul. § 21. Pompey governs Spain by deputy: 
his policy. § 22. Death of Clodius : Pompey Sole Consul : exile of Milo. 
§ 23. Pompey's measures to maintain superiority over Caesar. 

§ 1. A FEW days after Cicero had left Rome, Caesar received news 
from Gaul which compelled his precipitate departure. The 
Helvetians were advancing upon Geneva, with the purpose of 
crossing the Rhone near that town, the extreme outpost of the 
Province of Transalpine Gaul, and forcing their way through 
that Province to seek new settlements in the West. In eight 
days, the active Proconsul travelled from the gates of Rome to 
Geneva. Arrived there, he lined the river with fortifications 
such as compelled the Helvetians to pass into Gaul by a longer 
route over the Jura ; he followed them across the Arar (Saone), 
and after a murderous battle near Bibracte (Autun in Burgundy), 
compelled the remnant to return to their own country. 



662 CIVIL WARS: SECOITD PERIOD. Book VII 

Immediately after defending the Province from tliese invaders, 
he accepted the invitation of the JEduans and Gauls dv^elling 
westward of the Saone to expel from their borders a formidable 
German Tribe, which had passed the Ehine and was threatening 
to overran all Gaul. These Suevi, who have left their name in 
modern Suabia, were led by a great chief named Ariovistus. 
Ariovistus at first proposed to divide Gaul with the Romans; 
but Caesar promptly rejected all such overtures. So alarmed 
were the Roman Legionaries at the prospect of a contest with 
the Germans, huge in frame and multitudinous in number, that 
it required all Caesar's adroitness to restore their confidence. 
" If," he said, " all deserted him, he would himself brave every 
hazard, and face the foe with the Tenth Legion alone." These 
words rallied the Legionaries. A desperate battle was fought 
about five miles from the Rhine, somewhere north of Bale, in 
which the Germans were utterly defeated ; and Ariovistiis him- 
self only escaped in a boat across the great river which was long 
to remain as the western boundary of the Teutonic race. 

§ 2. Caesar's troops wintered in the heart of the country which 
he had set free from the Suevian invaders. This position roused 
the jealousy of the Belgic Tribes to the north of the Seine, and a 
powerful confederacy was formed to bar any designs entertained 
by Caesar for extending the dominion of Rome in Gaul. Caesar 
did not wait to be attacked. He raised two new Legions without 
demanding the authority of the Senate, and early next year (57 
B.C.) entered the Belgic territory, which was bounded southward 
by the Seine and Marne. Here he occupied a strong position on 
the Aisne, and baffled all the efforts of the confederates to dislodge 
him or draw him out to battle. Wearied out, they dispersed, 
each to their own homes; and Caesar then advanced rapidly 
into the country of the Nervians, the most formidable people of 
the Belgic League, who occupied the district between the Sambre 
and the Scheld, As he was forming his camp upon the right 
bank of the former river, he was surprised by the enemy, and his 
whole army was nearly cut ofi". He retrieved the disaster only at 
imminent peril to himself, and had to do the duty both of a 
common soldier and a general. But when the first confusion was 
over, Roman discipline prevailed ; and the brave Barbarians were 
repulsed with prodigious slaughter. After this desperate battle, 
he received the submission of the whole country below the 
Rhine; 

§ 3. In the following year (56 B.C.), he built a fleet, and quickly 
reduced the amphibious people of Brittany, who had defied his 
power and insulted his officers. He attempted also, but without 
success, to occupy a post at Martigny in the Valais, for the pur- 



Chap. LXYI. RECALL OF CICERO. 663 

pose of commanding tlio Pass of the Pennine Alp (Great St. Ber- 
nard), received the submission of tlie Aquitanians in the extreme 
south throuo-li his young lieutenant P. Crassus, son of the 
Triumvir, find himself chastised the wild Tribes occupying the 
coast-land which now forms Picardy, Artois, and French Flanders, 
the Menapii and the Morini — " remotest of mankind."* Thus 
in three campaigns, he seemed to have conquered the whole of 
Gaul, from the Rhine and Mount Jura to the Western Ocean. 
The brilliancy and rapidity of his successes silenced all hostility 
at Rome. A thanksgiving of fifteen days — an unprecedented 
length of time — was decreed by the Senate. 

§ 4. The winter months of each year were passed by the Pro- 
consul on the Italian side of the Alps. After travelling through 
his Cisalpine Province to hold assizes, inspect public works, 
raise money for his wars, and recruit his troops, he fixed his 
head-quarters at Luca (Lucca) — a town on the very frontier of 
Roman Italy, within two hundred miles of Rome itself. Here he 
could hold easy communication with his partisans at homo. 
Lucca during his residence was more like a regal court than the 
quarters of a Roman Proconsul. At one time 200 Senators were 
counted among his visitors; 120 Lictors indicated the presence 
of the numerous magistrates who attended his levees. Both 
Pompey and Crassus came to hold conference with him. To 
explain the object of this visit, we must know what had passed 
at Rome since his departure two years before. 

§ 5. It has been mentioned that Clodius remained absolute 
at Rome during the year 58 B.C. But the insolence and 
audacity of the Tribune at length gave oflence to Pompey. 
Clodius had seized the person of a son of Tigranes, whom the 
great conqueror had brought with him from the East, and had 
accepted a large ransom for the young pHnce. The Praetor L. 
Flavins, a creature of Pompey, endeavoured to arrest the liberated 
prisoner ; but Clodius interfered at the head of an armed force, 
and in the struggle several of Pompey's adherents were slain. 
The great man determined to punish the Tribune by promoting 
the recall of Cicero. Ever since the departure of the Orator, his 
friends had been using all exertions to compass this end. His 
brother Quintus, who had lately returned from a three years' 
government in Asia, and was about to join Caesar as one of his 
Legates, — his friend Atticus, who on this occasion forsook his 
usual epicurean ease, — his old but generous rival Hortensius, — 
all joined with his wife Terentia, a woman of masculine spirit, to 

* " Extremosque hominum Morinos." — Virg., ^n. viii. '72*7 ; — wliere this 
line and that which precedes ought probably to be transposed. 



664 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

promote his interests; and Cicero ventured to Dyrrhacliiuin, 
tliougli it was within the prescribed limit of 400 miles. Pom- 
pey's quarrel with Clodius was announced by the election to the 
Consulate of P. Lentulus Spinther, a known friend, of Cicero, 
and Q. Metellus Nepos, a creature of Pompey. 

§ 6. The new Consuls, on entering office (58 B.C.), immediately 
moved for the Orator's recall. It was not, however, easy to carry 
a Law for this purpose. Clodius, though no longer Tribune, had 
adherents in the new College, who interposed their veto. The 
motion, dropt for the moment, was presently renewed ; and 
Clodius entered the Forum at the head of a retinue fully prepared 
for any violence. A regular battle followed, which left Clodius 
master of the field. For some days Rome was at his mercy. 
"With his own hand he fired the temple of the Nymphs and 
destroyed the Censorial Registers. He attacked his enemies' 
houses, and many persons were slain in these riotous assaults. 
No public attempt was made to stop him. But a young Noble- 
man, named T. Annius Milo, bold and reckless as Clodius himself, 
raised a body of Gladiators at his own charge, and succeeded in 
checking the lawless violence of the Tribune by the use of violence 
as lawless. The bill for Cicero's recall was now again brought 
forward, but was not passed till the month of August. 

Meantime the impatient Orator had continued to accuse his 
friends of coldness and insincerity. But when the Law was 
passed, all the clouds vanished. Early in September, about a 
year and four months after his departure, he approached the 
City, and crowds attended him along the whole length of the 
Appian Way. From the Porta Capena to the Capitol, the steps 
of the Temples, and every place of vantage, were thronged by 
multitudes, who testified their satisfaction by loud applause. 
For the moment, the popularity which had followed his Consul- 
ship returned, and in honest pride he ascended to the Capitoline 
Temple to return thanks to the Gods for turning the hearts of 
the People, 

§ Y. At this time there was a great scarcity of corn at Rome, 
which was in part occasioned by the disturbed state of Egypt, 
one of the chief granaries of Italy. The King, Ptolemy Auletes, 
had lately been expelled by his subjects, and was now at Rome 
seeking aid from the Senate to procure restoration to his throne. 
The People, accustomed to be fed by the State, murmured 
loudly. Prices fell after the return of Cicero, and his friends 
attributed this cheapness to his recall ; but before he entered 
Rome, they rose again, and Clodius attributed this dearness to 
the same cause. On the day after his triumphant entry, there- 
fore, the Orator appeared in the Senate, and after returning 



Chap. LXVI. THE SENATE AND THE TRIUMVIRATE. G65 

tlianks moved that 311 extraordinary Commission should be 
issued to Pompey, by which he was to be entrusted with a com- 
plete control over the corn-market of the Empire. The Consuls 
closed with the proposal, and added that the Commission should 
run for five years, with the command of money, troops, fleets, 
and all things necessary for absolute authority. The Senate 
dared not oppose the Bill, but Pompey was obliged to relinquish 
the clauses which invested him with military power. He proved 
unable to influence prices, or in other words to force nature, and 
the coveted appointment resulted in unpopularity. 

§ 8. At the same time, handsome sums were voted to Cicero 
to enable him to rebuild his ruined houses, and to compensate 
him for the destruction of his property. Encouraged by his pre- 
sent popularity, he proceeded to institute a prosecution against 
Clodius for seditious conduct during his ofiice ; but the reckless 
demagogue received support from an unexpected quarter. Cato 
had just returned from executing the hateful Commission given 
him by Clcdius. The helpless Prince of Cyprus, despairing of 
resistance, had put an end to his own life ; and the Roman, with 
rigorous punctuality, proceeded to sell the royal property, and 
reduced the island to the condition of a Roman Province. On his 
return, he paid large sums into the Treasury, insisted on his 
accounts being examined with minute scrutiny, and took pride 
in having executed his Commission with strict severity. But 
his acts would be illegal, were the Tribunate of Clodius declared 
illegal. Cato, therefore, came forward as a defender of Clodius 
and his Tribunate. 

§ 9. While the question was pending, fresh passions were ex- 
cited by the petition of Ptolemy Auletes. The King had con- 
sulted Cato during his sojourn in the East; and Cato had advised 
him to procure restoration by any means rather than by applica- 
tion to Rome. But Ptolemy neglected the advice; and every 
Senator of influence claimed the lucrative task of restoring the 
King of Egypt. Pompey sought it, and Crassus sought it. The 
Senate, however, was too jealous of the Triumvirate to listen 
either to Pompey or to Crassus : and it was conferred upon the 
late Consul Lentulus Spinther, who had obtained the Province of 
Cilicia. But the Tribune C. Cato produced an oracle from the 
Sibylline books, which forbade the use of an army, Lentulus, 
therefore, obtained a commission without the power of executing 
it, and the qxiestion was in reality left open for future aspirants. 

§ 10. In the heat of this contest, Clodius had been elected 
^dile, and for the nonce escaped the impeachment which was 
menacing. The armed conflicts between him and Milo con- 
tinued ; and the Consular election for the year 55 b.c. threatened 



666 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PEEIOD. Book VII. 

to become tlie opportunity of serious blpodslied; The Consuls 
of the current year (57 B.C.) were decidedly in the interest of the 
Senate, and supported, Avith all their influence, L. Domitius 
Ahenobarbus, brother-in-law of Cato, a determined antagonist 
of the Triumviral Cabal. This man threatened that his first act 
should be to recall Caesar from his Province. Pompey also and 
Crassus met with little favour from him. It was to concert 
measures for thwarting the reviving energy of the Senate, that 
the ominous meeting of the Triumvirs at Lucca was held. What 
passed between the Three is only known from the results. 

§ 11. Pompey and Crassus returned to Rome pledged (as the 
result showed) to prevent the election of Domitius. To this end, 
they came forward themselves as joint Candidates for a Second 
Consulship, The Senate, however, had gathered courage. Milo 
held Clodius in check, and the Consuls refused to hold the 
Comitia. The Calends of January came, and there were no Con- 
suls to assume the government. But young Crassus just then 
arrived in the neighbourhood of Rome with a body of Gallic 
veterans from Caesar's army. Under fear of violence, the Sena- 
torial Chiefs allowed Pompey and Crassus to assume the Consul- 
ship, as Marius and Cinna had assumed it, without any regular 
form of Election. They immediately held Comitia for the election 
of the other Curule Magistracies. Cato off"ered himself for the 
Prsetorship, but was defeated by Vatinius, a mercenary instru- 
ment of Caesar's policy. 

§ 12. Further fruits of the Conference of Lucca soon appeared. 
The Tribune, C, Trebonius, moved in the Assembly of Tribes 
that the Consuls should receive special Provinces for the" space 
of five years, — Syria being allotted to Crassus, Spain to Pompey ; 
and Pompey added a clause to this Trebonian Law, by which 
Caesar's government of the Gauls was extended for an additional 
five years, to date from the expiration of the first term.* Cato 
obstructed the Law by his old ruse of speaking against time, but 
Trebonius committed him to prison ; and two Tribunes who 
threatened to interpose their veto were kept away from the As- 
sembly by the use of positive force. 

§ 13. Pompey endeavoured to outdo even Ctesar in bidding for 
the favour of the People by magnificent spectacles. In his name, 
his Freedman Demetrius erected the first Theatre of stone which 
Rome had yet seen, and exhibited combats of wild beasts on a 
scale never before witnessed. Then for the first time an elephant- 
fight was exhibited in the Arena of the Amphitheatre. 

§ 14. Cicero after his return from exile had for a time eagerly 

* The Vatinian Law gave Caesar command from the beginning of 58 to 
the end of 54 B.C.; the Trebonian, from the beginning of 53 to the end of 49. 



Chap. LXVI. CICERO JOINS THE TRIUMVIRS. 667 

engaged in professional pursuits. To pass over tlic spceclies 
touching Lis own atiairs, which belong to the year 57 b.c, we 
find him defending P. Sestius, M. Caelius, and L. Balbus ; and the 
speeches which he delivered as their advocate are full of inte- 
resting allusions to the state of political affairs. In the Senate 
also he took an active part in the debates. Before the conference 
of Lucca, the Triumviral Cabal seemed shaken, and the Oi'ator 
ventured to move in the Senate the repeal of Caesar's Agrarian 
Law. But after the Conference, a message was conveyed to him 
through Crassus which convinced him of the danger which might 
again overtake him. He was, moreover becoming disgusted with 
the Senatorial Chiefs. Lucullus, after sj)ending his latter days in 
profuse luxury, was sinking into a state of senile apathy. Hor- 
tensius, always more of an Advocate than a Statesman, Avas 
devoted to his fish-ponds and his plantations. With Cato the 
gentler nature of Cicero never acted harmoniously. The persons 
who were now rising to be Chiefs of the Senate, such as Domi- 
tius Ahenobarbus and Milo, were as lawless as Clodius. It had 
been best for Cicero if he had taken the advice of his friend 
Atticus and retired altogether from public life. He would not 
join the violent members of the Senatorial party ; he dared not 
oppose the Triumvirs ; yet he could not bear to abandon the 
Senate-house and Forum, and at length he reluctantly resolved 
to support the Triumviral Cabal. Soon after the conference of 
Lucca a change took place in his politics. He spoke in favour 
of the prolongation of Csesar's command, and pronounced a 
laboured panegyric on Crassus. To Csesar he had been recon- 
ciled by his brother Quintus, a warm admirer of the great Pro- 
consul ; and the gallant son of Crassus, who had returned flushed 
with triumph from the Gallic wars, was a devoted follower of 
Cicero. No doubt the Orator was disgusted by the ferocity of 
Milo ; and perhaps he really believed that at present the best 
hope of regular government was from the Triumvirs. At all 
events his Letters written at this time show that he laboured to 
convince his friends that such was his belief. 

§ 15. But the Cabal was hastening to dissolution. In the year 
54 B.C. Julia, the daughter of Csesar and wife of Pompey, died in 
childbed. Though Pompey was old enougli to be her father, she 
had been to him a loving and faithful wife. He on his part was 
so devoted to his young and beautiful consort, that ancient 
authors attribute much of his apathy in public matters to the 
happiness which he found in domestic life. This faithful attach- 
ment to Julia is the most amiable point in a character otherwise 
cold and unattractive. So much was Julia beloved, that the 
People voted her the extraordinary honor of a public funeral in 



668 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

tlie Campus Martius. Her death set Pompey free at once from 
ties which had long bound him to Caesar, and impelled him to 
drown the sense of his loss in the busy whirl of public life. 

§ 16. Meanwhile Crassus had left Rome for the East, and de- 
stroyed another link in the chain that had hitherto maintained 
union among the Triumvirs. Early in the year after his Consul- 
ship (54 B.C.) he assumed the government of Syria. His chief 
object in seeking this Province Avas by the conquest of the 
Parthians to balance the military glory of Pompey and of Caesar. 
But, towards the close of the year 53 B.C., about twelve months 
after the death of Julia, Rome was horror-struck by hearing that 
the wealthy Proconsul and his gallant son had been cut off, and 
that the greater part of his army had been destroyed. 

§ 1*7. The Parthians, a people originally found in the moun- 
tainous district to the south-west of the Caspian Sea, had, on the 
death of Alexander, fallen under the nominal sway of Seleucus 
and his successors on the Graeco-Syrian throne. As that dynasty 
fell into decay, the Parthians continually waxed bolder ; till at 
the time of the great Mithridatic War we find their King Phraates 
claiming to be called King of Kings, and exercising despotic 
power over the countries adjacent to the Euphrates westward. 
Their capital was the Greek city of Seleuceia on the Tigris ; 
and here the King maintained a court, in which the barbaric 
splendour of the East was strangely mingled wiih the refinements 
introduced by Grecian settlers. They possessed a numerous 
cavalry, clad in light armour, accustomed to scour the broad 
plains near the Euphrates, trained to disperse like a clond before 
regular troops, but as they fled to fire on the advancing enemy. 
Orodes, their present King, threatened with an attack by Gabi- 
nius, the predecessor of Crassus, was not unprepared for war. 

In the first year of his Proconsulship, Crassus was too late for 
serious attack; but early in the next spring (53 b.c.) he ad- 
vanced in strength from the Euphrates at the head of a well- 
appointed army. Artabazus, the present King of Armenia, who 
through fear of the Parthian monarch Avas sincerely attached 
to Rome, wished the Proconsul to take his country as a basis 
of operations, and to descend the valley of the Tigris, so as to 
avoid the open plains, where the Parthian horsemen, seconded 
by the heat of summer, would act against him at terrible advan- 
tage. C. Cassius Longinus, the most experienced officer of the 
Proconsul, — a man who afterwards became famous as the chief 
author of Caesar's death, — took the same view. But Crassus 
neglected warning and advice. What was foretold happened. 
The Parthians, avoiding a general battle, drew on the Romans 
into the heart of Mesopotamia, till the Legionaries, faint with 



CttAP. LXVI. DISSOLUTION OF THE TRIUMVIRATE. 6G9 

heat and hunger, could advance no further. As they began to 
retreat, they were enveloped by a crowd of horsemen, and pur- 
sued by a great army commanded by Surenas, a principal officer 
of Orodes. At Charriie, the Haran where Abraham once dwelt, 
Crassus halted and oftered battle. His offer was accepted, and he 
was defeated. Still the Proconsul contrived to make good his 
retreat, and was within reach of the mountains that skirt the 
western side of the great plain of Mesopotamia, when he was 
induced to accept a conference offered by the treacherous Sure- 
nas. At this conference he was seized and slain, as the Chiefs 
of the Ten Thousand had been dealt Avith three centuries before. 
His head was sent to Orodes, who ordered molten gold to be 
poured into the mouth. Young Publius, the friend of Caesar and 
of Cicero, fell in the struggle, fighting valiantly for his father. 
Cassius alone of the chief officers did the duty of a general, and 
succeeded in drawing off his division in safety to the Roman 
frontiers. For two years Cassius continued to defend the Pro- 
vince against the Parthian assaults, till in 51 b.c. a decisive 
victory checked their advances, and enabled him to hand over 
the Province in a peaceful condition to Bibulus. 

§ 18. Meanwhile Caesar also in Gaul was involved in unex- 
pected difficulties. In his three first campaigns (58-56 B.C.), 
as has been said, he seemed to have reduced all Gaul to silent 
submission. In the two next years he was engaged in expe- 
ditions calculated rather to astonish and dazzle men's minds 
at Rome than necessary to secure his conquests. Fresh swarms 
of Germans had begun to cross the Rhine near Coblenz. He 
defeated them near that place with slaughter so terrible, that 
upwards of 150,000 men are said to have been slain by the 
sword or to have perished in the Rhine. To terrify them still 
further, he threw a bridge over the broad river at a spot pro- 
bably between Coblenz and Andernach, which was completed 
in ten days, — a miracle of engineering art. He then advanced 
into Germany, burning and destroying, but broke up his bridge 
as he returned. Caesar's account of the victory of Coblenz was 
not received like the triumphs of previous years. It appeared 
that the German chiefs had come into the Roman camp, that 
Caesar detained them on the ground that they had broken an 
armistice, and while they were captives had attacked their army. 
The facts as narrated by himself bear an appearance of ill faith. 
Cato rose in the Senate, and proposed that Caesar should be 
delivered up to the Germans, as an offering in expiation of 
treachery. But such a proposition came with an ill grace even 
from Cato's mouth. Romans professed not to keep faith with 
barbarians ; and if Caesar had not been the enemy of the Sena- 



670 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PEEIOB. Book ni 

torial party, probably notbing would have been said of his 
treachery. But however this may be, it is clear that the 
Decree would have been an empty threat. Who could have been 
found to " bell the cat ?" Who would or could have arrested 
Caesar at the head of his Legions ? 

§ 19. It was in the autumn of the same year (55 b.c.) that he 
passed over into our own island, taking ship probably at Witsand 
near Calais, and landing on the open beach near Deal. In the 
next year he repeated the invasion of Britain with a much larger 
force, marched up the Stour, took Canterbury, crossed the 
Thames above London, probably near Walton, defeated Cassi- 
velaunus, the gallant chief of the Trinobantes, and took his 
town, — which stood probably on the site of the modern St. 
Albans. Little result followed from these expeditions except to 
spread the terror of the Roman name, and to aftbrd matter of 
wonderment at Rome. Cicero's curiosity about these unknown 
lands was satisfied by letters from his brother Quintus, and from 
Trebatius, a learned lawyer, who attended Csesar at the recom- 
mendation of Cicero himself.* 

§ 20, But it was soon discovered how hollow was the pacifica- 
tion of Gaul. During the winter of 54-53 B.C., Caesar had spread 
his troops in winter-quarters over a wide area. Ambiorix, a 
crafty chief of the Eburones, a half-German Tribe on the Meuse, 
assaulted the camp of Cotta and Sabinus, and by adroit cunning 
contrived to cut off two Legions. He then attacked Q. Cicero. 
But this officer, though stationed in the hostile country of the 
Nervii with one Legion only, gallantly defended his caiup till he 
was relieved by Caesar himself, who had not yet left Transalpine 
Gaul. Alarmed by the prospect of a general insurrection, the 
Proconsul asked Pompey to lend him a Legion, and his request 
was granted. The next year's campaign crushed Ambiorix, and 
Caesar returned to Italy during the winter of 53-52 b.c, where his 
presence was needed, as we shall presently hear. But in the years 
52 and 51 b.c. all central Gaul rose against the Romans, under the 
able conduct of Vercingetorix, chief of the Arvernians. The com- 
bined Gauls for the most part declined open conflicts, and threw 
themselves into towns fortified with great skill and defended 
with great obstinacy. But, notwithstanding some reverses, the 
rapid movements and steady resolution of Caesar triumphed. 
The last hope of the Gauls lay in the strong fortress of Avaricum 
(Bourges) ; and when this yielded, resistance was at an end. But 
for the two next years the Proconsul was obliged to winter 
beyond the Alps ; and it was not till the beginning of the year 
50 B.C., the ninth of his command, that he had achieved the 
* Epist. ad Att. iv. 16, 13 ; 17, 3 ; ad Quintum Fratrem, ii. 16, 4. 



Chap. LXVI. DISSOLUTION OF THE TRIUMVIRATE. 671 

conquest of tlie whole country. This conquest was achieved at a 
fearful loss of life. Nearly a million of Gauls and Germans are 
computed to have been sacrificed in those eight years of war. 
Caesar was humane in the treatment of his fellow-citizens, but, 
like a true Roman, he counted the lives of barbarians as naught. 

§ 21. While therefore Crassus was engaged, never to return, 
in the East, and Ctesar was occupied with serious dangers in 
Gaul, Pompey was complete master of Rome. Contrary to 
precedent, he sent lieutenants to govern Spain in his stead, 
pleading his employment as Curator of the Corn-market as a 
reason for remaining at home ; though, to save appearances, he 
never appeared publicly within the walls of Rome. He seems to 
have expected that in the present condition of things all orders 
would unite in proclaiming him Dictator. In 54 b.c. Consuls 
were elected in the interest of the Senate, probably by a free use 
of money. Wlien the elections for 53 b.c. approached, several 
Tribunes of the popular party bound themselves together, and 
prevented all elections whatsoever ; so that for eight months the 
city was left without any responsible government. At length 
two Consuls were chosen ; but when they proposed to hold the 
Comitia for 52 b.c, the new Tribunes refused to permit any 
elections; and when the Calends of January came round, the 
Republic was without Consuls. But in a few days an event 
happened which completely altered all political relations. 

§ 22. In Csesar's absence Clodius had become the leader of 
the popular party. During the present interregnum he was a 
candidate for the Prsetorship, while his enemy Milo sought 
to be Consul. On the 18th of January, 52 b.c, Milo was tra- 
velling with his wife and family, attended by an armed retinue, 
along the Appian Road to Lanuvium, where he held a municipal 
office. Near Bovillse he met Clodius riding, with a small num- 
ber of attendants also armed. A quarrel arose among the 
servants ; Clodius mingled in the fray, and being wounded took 
refuge in a tavern. Milo, determined not to sufier for an im- 
perfect act of violence, surrounded the house, drew forth his 
wounded enemy, and left him dead upon the road. The body 
was carried to Rome and exposed in the Forum. A dreadful 
riot arose. The houses of Milo and other Senatorial chiefs were 
assaulted, but they were strongly built, and the populace was 
beaten ofi". But the furniture of the Senate-House was seized to 
make a funeral pile to the deceased demagogue, and the Curia 
itself was burnt to the ground. Every day witnessed a fresh 
riot, till the Senate commissioned Pompey to restore order. 
This was done ; and it was supposed that he would have been 
appointed Dictator at once, had not Csesar been at Lucca. 



672 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

watching for a false move of the party opposed to him. To 
avoid a direct collision, Cato and Bibulus recommended that 
Pompey should be named as sole Consul. Milo was soon after 
brought to trial for the death of Clodius, and Cicero exerted 
himself to the utmost to prepare a speech in justification 
of the slaughter of Clodius. The jury were willing to acquit 
Milo. But Pompey was anxious to get rid of a citizen as trouble- 
soiTie on the one side as Clodius had been on the other ; and he 
placed soldiers at every avenue of the Court for the purpose, as 
he said, of preserving order. This unwonted sight, and the fear 
of popular violence, robbed Cicero of his eloquence and the jury 
of their courage. Milo was condemned, and fled to Marseilles. 
Cicero sent him there a copy of the speech Avhich he intended to 
have spoken. Milo, who knew not fear, sarcastically replied, 
that " he was glad it had not been delivered : else he should not 
then have been eating the fine mullets of Marseilles." 

§ 23. Pompey had now reached the height of his ambition. 
He was virtually Dictator, without being bound to any party. 
But from this time he seems to have made up his mind to break 
with Csesar. He married Cornelia, daughter of Metellus Scipio, 
a leading member of the Aristocracy, and on the 1st of August 
associated his new father-in-law in the Consulship with himself. 
He repealed some of the democratic measures of Clodius, and 
made rules for the better conduct of Elections, and the assign- 
ment of Provinces. He struck indirectly at Caesar by several 
new enactments. He procured a Decree of the Senate by which 
his own government of Spain was prolonged for five years, 
whereas Caesar's command in Gaul would terminate in little 
more than two years. By this Law Pompey calculated that he 
should be able to keep his own army on foot after the Gallic 
conqueror had disbanded his. In anticipation of Caesar's seek- 
ing a second Consulship, it was provided that no one should 
hold a Province till five years had elapsed from the end of his 
tenure of office. By this Law Pompey calculated that his rival 
would be left, after he laid down the Consulship, without any 
military force. It is strange that Pompey should not have 
foreseen that a man so resolute and so ambitious would break 
through the cobwebs of law by the strong hand. 




Parthian Coin. 




Coin to commemorate the taking of Egypt, 
CHAPTER LXVII. 

SECOND CIVIL WAR : DEATH OF POMPET. (50 48 B.C.) 

§ 1. First move against Caesar. § 2. Enemies and Friends of Ceesar at Rome : 
Curio : Cselius : Antony. § 3. Proposals and counter-proposals in 50 b.c. 
§ 4. Caesar outlawed : Antony and Q. Cassius, Tribunes, fly to his camp. 
§ 5. Both parties ill prepared for immediate war : Pompey's confidence. 
§ 6. Caesar's advance to Corfinium. § T. Pompey leaves Italy: Caesar at 
Rome. § 8. Caesar conquers Pompeians in Spain. § 9. Surrender of 
Marseilles : return of Caesar to Rome. § 10. First Dictatorship, for eleven 
days. § 11. Illyria Von by Pompeians : failure of Curio in Africa. § 12. 
Return of Cicero from CUicia : he remains in Italy, but at length joins 
Pompey. § 13. Position of Pompey in the East. § 14. In the autumn 
of 49 B.C. Caesar lands in Epirus : Pompey hastens to Dyrrhachium. § 15. 
Next spring, Caesar is joined by Antony. § 16. He draws lines roimd 
Pompey's position : Pompey breaks the blockade and defeats Caesar. § 17. 
Retreat of Cassar, who succeeds in joining Calvinus in Thessaly. § IS. 
Pompey joins Metellus Scipio at Larissa : both armies at Pharsalia. § 19. 
Battle of Pharsalia: flight of Pompey. § 20. Pursuit. § 21. Pompey 
seeks refuge at Lesbos : his plans. § 22. He goes to Egypt : murder of 
Pompey. § 23. His character. 

§ 1. The Senatorial Chiefs had resolved to break with Caesar.' 
The attack was commenced in September, 51 b.c. He had at 
that time succeeded in putting down the formidable insurrection 
organised by Vercingetorix, and the fact of his success was not 
yet known at Rome. Little more than two years of his command 
were yet to run before he became a private citizen. He had, 
however, already intimated his intention of offering himself again 
for the Consulship, in order that he might be secured from the 
prosecution with which he was threatened on laying down his 
proconsular command ; and it was intended to ask permission of 
the Senate that he might become a Candidate without returning 
to Rome. For, if he continued to be Proconsul, he could not 

29 



674 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book V 11. 

legally enter the gates ; and if lie ceased to be Proconsul, lie 
would be exposed to personal danger. But a Decree was made, 
by which the Consuls of the next year Avere ordered at once to 
bring before the Senate the question of re-distributing the Pro- 
vincial Governments ; and a clause was added providing, that the 
Senate would take care of Csesar's veterans. The purpose of 
this Decree was manifest. It was intended to supersede Csesar, 
though the Law gave him two years more of command, and to 
sap the fidelity of his soldiers by the promise of lands in Italy. 

But the movement was premature, and was allowed to drop. 
Still a move had been made, and men's minds were familiarised 
with the notion of stripping Cgesar of his command. 

§ 2. Caesar felt that the crisis was at hand. Of the new 
Consuls (for the year 50 B.C.), C. Marcellus was his declared 
enemy; but L. ^milius PauUus had been secretly won by a 
share of the conqueror's gold. Among the Tribunes of the year 
was a young man named M. Scribonius Curio, son of one of 
Sylla's most determined partisans. His talents were ready, his 
eloquence great, his audacity incomparable. He had entered 
upon political life at an early age, and was a leader among those 
young nobles, whom Cicero ten years before had designated as 
" the blood-thirsty youth." Since that time he had attached 
himself to Cicero ; and the Orator believed that he had reclaimed 
the profligate young man. But Caesar, or his Gallic gold, had 
made a convert of Curio. The Nobles, ignorant of this secret, 
promoted his election to the Tribunate, and thus unwarily com- 
mitted power to a bold and uncompromising foe. 

M. Cajlius Eufus, another profligate youth of great ability, 
whom Cicero flattered himself he had won, was also secretly on 
Caesar's side. During the whole of the Orator's absence in Cilicia, 
this unprincipled young man kept up a brisk correspondence 
with him, as if he was a firm adherent of the Senatorial party. 
But on the first outbreak of the quarrel he joined the enemy. 

A third person, hereafter destined to play a conspicuous part, 
now appeared at Rome as the avowed partisan of Caesar. This 
was young M. Antonius, better known as Mark Antony, son of 
M. Antonius Creticus, and therefore grandson of the great 
Orator. His uncle, C. Antonius, had been Consul with Cicero. 
His mother was Julia, a distant relation of the great Caesar. 
Antony had served under Gabinius in the East, and for the last 
two years had been with Caesar in Gaul. He now came to Eome 
to sue for the Augurate, vacant by the death of the Orator Hor- 
tensius ; and, assisted by Caesar's influence, and his own con- 
nexions, he was elected. He was thirty-three years of age, 
ready and unscrupulous as Curio, and he offered himself to be 



Chap. LXVIL SECOND CIVIL WAR. 675 

elected as successor to that young adventurer in the College of 
Ti"ibuncs. Thus, for the year 50 B.C. Cajsar's interests were 
watched by Curio, and in the year 49 B.C. Antony succeeded to 
the task. 

§ 3. No direct attack was made during the present year. 
At Pompey's suggestion, however, it was represented that a 
Parthian war was imminent, and both the rivals were desired 
to furnish one Legion for service in the East. Caesar at once 
complied ; Pompey evaded the demand by asking Caesar to 
return the Legion which had been lent by himself after the 
destruction of the two Legions by Ambiorix. This request also 
Caesar obeyed, so that in fact both Legions were withdrawn 
from his army. Their employment in the East proved to be 
a mere pretext. They were both stationed at Capua, Avithin call 
of Pompey. 

Curio now proposed that both Pompey and Caesar should 
disband their armies ; " this was but fair," he said, " for both ; 
nor could the will of the Senate and People be considered free 
Avhile Pompey was at hand wdth a military force to control 
their deliberations." But the Senate turned a deaf ear to the 
proposal, and the year closed without any approach to a peaceful 
settlement. 

§ 4. The Consuls for the ensuing year (49 b.c.) were L. Len- 
tulus Crus, and another C. Marcellus, cousin-german of his 
predecessor, — both in the interest of Pompey. Scarcely had they 
entered upon office, when the crisis arrived. 

On the Calends of January, letters from Caesar were laid before 
the Senate by Curio, in which the Proconsul expressed his 
readiness "to accept the proposal that Pompey and himself 
should both resign their military power : as soon as he was 
assured that all soldiers were removed from the neighbourhood 
of Rome, he would enter the gates as a private person, and offer 
himself Candidate for the Consulship." Warm debates followed, 
in which Metellus Scipio,* Pompey's father-in-law, and Cato 
urged that Caesar should be declared a public enemy unless he 
laid down his command by a certain day. But even this did not 
satisfy the majority. Not only was Caesar outlawed : but on the 
6th of January a Decree was framed, investing the Consuls with 
dictatorial power, in the same form that had been used against 
C. Gracchus, against Saturninus, against Catiline. On the follow- 
ing night, Mark Antony fled from the City, together with another 
Tribune, Q. Cassius Longinus, brother of the more famous C. 
Cassius. 

* He was a Seipio by birth, being great-grandson of Scipio Nasica (nick- 
named Serapio), the slayer of Ti. Gracchus, and was adopted by Metellus Pius. 



6Y6 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

§ 5. The die was cast. Csesar liacl no longer any choice. He 
must either offer an armed resistance or save himself by flight. 
Neither party was well prepared for immediate war. Csesar had 
but one Legion in Italy ; for the hesitation of his enemies made 
him doubt whether they would ever defy him to mortal conflict. 
Pompey knew the weakness of his rival's forces. He also knew 
that Labienus, the best of Csesar's officers, was ready to desert his 
leader, and he believed that such an example would be followed 
by many others. He calculated that Ca3sar would not dare to 
move, or would fall a victim to his own rashness. For himself 
he had one Legion close to Rome, Caesar's two Legions at Capua ; 
and Sylla's veterans were, it was supposed, ready to take arms 
for the Senate at a moment's notice. " I have but to stamp my 
foot," said the great commander, " and armed men will start from 
the soil of Italy." 

§ 6. But Caesar's prompt audacity remedied his own want of 
preparation, and disconcerted the calculations of his opponents. 
He was stationed, with his single Legion, at Ravenna, when he 
was surprised by letters announcing the Decree of the 6th of 
January. His resolution was at once taken. He reviewed his 
Legion, and ascertained their readiness to follow whithersoever he 
led. At night-fall he left Ravenna secretly, crossed the Rubicon, 
which divided his Province from Italy, and at day-break entered 
Ariminum.* Here he met the Tribunes Antony and Q. Cassius, 
on their way from Rome. His legion arrived soon after, and 
orders were sent off to the nearest troops in Transalpine Gaul, to 
follow his steps with all speed. But he waited not for them. 
With his single Legion he appeared before Licenum, Fanum, 
Ancona, Iguvium, Auximum, and Asculum. All these towns 
surrendered without a blow, and by the beginning of February 
Caesar was master of all Umbria and Picenum. By the middle of 
that month he had been reinforced by two additional Legions 
from Gaul, and was strong enough to invest Corfinium, a fortress 
in the Pelignian Apennines, which was vigorously defended by 
Domitius Ahenobarbus and a number of Senators. At the close 
of a week, however, news came that Pompey and the Consuls and 
moved southward; and Domitius surrendered at discretion. 
Csesar allowed him and his Senatorial friends to go their way, 
without even exacting a promise that they would take no further 
part in the war. On entering the town he ordered that his men 
should abstain, not only from personal violence, but even from 

* This is Cffisar's simple narrative. The dramatic scene, in which he is 
represented as pausing on the banks of the Rubicon, and anxiously weighing 
■the probable consequences of one irremediable step is due to rhetorical wri- 
ters of later times. 



Chap. LXVII. SECOND CIVIL WAR. 077 

petty pillage. Reports had been spread that the Proconsul's 
troops were not Romans but Gauls, ferocious barbarians, whose 
hands would be against every Italian as their natural enemy. 
The public humanity Avhich Caesar showed, reconciled to his 
cause many who had hitherto stood aloof. The soldiers of 
Domitius took service under the conqueror. 

§ 7. After the fall of Corfinium, Coesar hastened southwards in 
pursuit of Pompey. But when he arrived at Brundusium, on the 
9th of March he found that the Consuls had sailed for Dyrrha- 
chium, though Pompey w^as still in the Italian port. The town 
was too strong to be taken by assault; and nine days after 
Caesar appeared before its walls, Pompey embarked at leisure 
and carried his last soldier out of Italy. Disappointed of his 
prey, Caesar returned upon his steps, and reached Rome upon the 
1st of April. The People, at the motion of M. Antony, gave 
Caesar full power to take what money he desired from the 
Treasury, without sparing even the sacred hoard, which had 
never been touched, except in the necessities of the Hannibalic 
War. Notwithstanding this vote, the Tribune L. Metellus, a 
son of Metellus Creticus, refused to produce the keys of the 
Treasury, and when Caesar ordered the doors to be broken open, 
endeavoured to bar his passage into the sacred chamber. " Stand 
aside, young man," said Caesar, " it is easier for me to do than to 
Bay." 

He was now master of Italy as well as Gaul. To pursue Pom- 
pey to Epirus was impossible, because Senatorial oflBcers swept 
the sea with a large fleet, and Caesar had few ships at his dis- 
posal. Moreover, in Spain, which had been subject to Pompey 
for the last five years, there was a veteran army ready to enter 
Italy. The remainder of the season, therefore, he resolved to 
occupy in the reduction of that army. 

§ 8. On his way to Spain, he found that Marseilles, the retreat 
of Milo, had declared for Pompey. Leaving Dec. Brutus with 
twelve ships, and C. Trebonius with a body of troops, to besiege 
the town both by sea and land, he continued his march, and 
crossed the Pyrenees early in the summer. Hither Spain was 
held by C. Afi'anius, an officer of Pompey, w^hom he had raised to 
the Consulship, and M. Petreius, who had destroyed the army of 
Catiline. Further Spain was entrusted to the care of M. Teren- 
tius Varro. 

Near Ilerda (Lerida), on the river Sicoris, an affluent of the 
Ebro, Caesar was encountered by the Pompeian leaders. He 
gives us a very full account of the movements which followed, 
from which it seems that he was at first out-generalled by 
Petreius. Yet his dexterity in swaying the wills of men soon 



6Y8 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

gave him tlie superiority. Avoiding a battle always, lie encou- 
raged communications between his own men and the soldiers of 
the enemy ; and at length the Pompeian leaders, finding them- 
selves unable to control their own troops, were obliged to sur- 
render their command. Two-thirds of their force took service 
with the politic conqueror. 

Varro, in Further Spain, by dexterous intrigue, contrived to 
evade immediate submission. But after a vain attempt to col- 
lect a force, he surrendered to, the conqueror at Corduba (Cor- 
dova), and was allowed to go where he pleased. Before autumn 
closed, all Spain was at the feet of Caesar, and was committed to 
the government of Q. Cassius, the Tribune who had supported 
his cause at Rome. Thus secured from danger in the West, he 
hastened into Italy. 

§ 9. As he passed through Southern Gaul, he found that 
Marseilles still held out against Dec. Brutus and Trebonius. 
The defence had been most gallant. The blockade by sea had 
been interrupted by a detachment from Pompey's fleet ; and the 
great works raised by the besiegers on land had been met by 
counter-works of equal magnitude on the part of the besieged. 
But on the arrival of Caesar, the Massilians surrendered them- 
selves with a good grace, and were treated Avith the utmost 
clemency. 

§ 10. During his absence in Spain, M. ^milius Lepidus, whom 
he had left as Prefect of the City to govern Italy, had named him 
Dictator. He assumed the great dignity thus conferred upon 
him, but held it only eleven days. In that period he presided at 
the Comitia, and was elected Consul, together with P. Servilius 
Isauricus, one of his old competitors for the Chief Pontificate. 
He also passed several Laws. One of those restored all exiles to 
the city, except Milo, thus undoing one of the last remnants of 
Sylla's Dictatorship. A second provided for the payment of 
debts, so as to lighten the burthens of the debtors without 
satisfying the democratic cry for an abolition of all contracts. 
A third conferred the franchise on the citizens of Transpadane 
Gaul, who had since the Social War enjoyed the Latin right 
only. 

§ 11. Of the doings of his lieutenants in other quarters during 
this memorable year, Caesar did not receive accounts at all com- 
mensurate with his own marvellous success. In lUyria, P. Cor- 
nelius Dolabella, son-in-law of Cicero, who had joined the con- 
queror, had been disgracefully beaten, and Caius, brother of Mark 
Antony, taken prisoner, so that all the eastern coastof the Adriatic 
was now in the hands of the Pompeians. 

Curio had been sent to occupy Sicily, where Cato commanded 



Chap. LXVIL SECOND CIVIL WAR. 679 

in the name of tlic Senate. The philosopher, having no adequate 
force, declined the contest, and joined Pompey in Epirus. Curio 
then passed over to Africa, where the Pompeian general Varus 
held command, and was at first successful. But presently Juba, 
king of Mauritania, appeared in the field as an Ally of the Sena- 
torial party ; and Curio, obliged to retreat before the combined 
forces of the enemy, took refuge in the famous camp of Scij5io. 
From this position he was drawn out by a feigned retreat ; and 
being surprised by an overpowering force, he was defeated and 
slain. Africa, therefore, as well as all the Eastern World remained 
in the hands of the Pompeians, while Italy, Gaul, and Spain 
owned the authority of Csesar. 

§ 12. Cicero had returned from Cilicia, while the debates, which 
issued in the Decree of the 6tli of January, were still unfinished. 
He claimed a Triumph for some military successes over the 
mountaineers who infested that Province, and therefore would 
not enter the walls of the City to be present at these mo- 
mentous debates. The question of his Triumph was soon for- 
gotten in the rapid course of events which followed, and he 
retired to his Formian Villa, still attended by his Lictors with 
their faces wreathed in laurel. Here he had interviews with 
the Pompeian leaders on their retreat through Campania. At 
the same time many of his personal friends, as Curio, Cselius, 
Dolabella, Balbus, Trebatius, had joined Csesar, and urged him to 
make common cause with their generous leader. On his return 
from Brundusium Caesar himself visited him. But the Orator 
could not be prevailed upon to forsake the cause of the Senate ; 
and after long hesitation, he took ship and joined Pompey in the 
East. 

§ 13. Pompey Avas bitterly censured by his party for quitting 
Italy without a blow. But when he was surprised by Caesar's 
rapid advance, the only troops besides those under Domitius at 
Corfinium were the two Legions lately sent fi-om Gaul by Csesar ; 
and these (it may well be supposed) he dared not trust to do 
battle against their old commander. 

It is probable, therefore, that he was really compelled to quit 
Italy. But his fleet was now so large that it would have been 
easy for him to regain Italian soil; and, since he made no 
attempt to cross the sea, we may assume that he purposely 
chose Epirus as the ground for battle. He had all the East 
behind him, long used to reverence his name ; and out of Italy 
he was less likely to be thwarted by the Senatorial Chiefs, who 
hated him while they used him. Such especially was Domitius 
Ahenobarbus, who loudly complained that he had been deserted 
at Corfinium. 



680 CIVIL .-WARS; SECOND PERIOD Book VII 

Pompey's head-quarters were fixed at Thessalonica, the chief 
city of Macedonia. Here the Senators who had fled from Italj 
assembled, and his chief oflicers assumed titles of authority. He 
Lad employed the time well. The Provinces and Kings of the 
East filled his military chest with treasure ; he had collected seven 
Roman Legions, with a number of auxiliaries from every sur- 
rounding monarchy, and a powerful force of cavalry ; large maga- 
zines of provisions and military stores were formed : above all, 
a fleet, increasing every day in numbers, was supplied by the 
maritime states of lUyria, Greece, Asia Minor, Phoenicia, and 
Egypt. Bibulus, the old adversary of Caesar, took the command 
as Admiral-in-Chief, supported by able lieutenants. With this 
naval force actively employed, it was hoped that it would be im- 
possible for Caesar to land in Epirus. 

§ 14. Csesar arrived in Brundusium at the end of October, 
49 B.C.* Twelve Legions had been assembled there. So much 
had their numbers been thinned by war' fatigue, and the fevers 
of Apulia, that each Legion averaged less than 3000 men. His 
transports were so few, that he was not able to ship more than 
seven of these imperfect Legions, with 600 horse. AH the har- 
bours were occupied by the enemy. But the ancients were 
seldom able to maintain a blockade by cruising ; and Csesar, 
leaving Brundusium on the 6th November, landed his first corps 
on the open coast of Epirus, a little south of the Acroceraunian 
headland. He sent his empty ships back directly, and marched 
northward to Oricum and ApoUonia, where he claimed admission 
in virtue of his consular ofiice. The claim was admitted, and 
these towns fell into his hands. Pompey immediately marched 
■ from Thessalonica, and succeeded in reaching Dyrrhachium in 
time to save that important place. He then pushed his lines 
forward to the mouth of the Apsus, and the two hostile armies 
lay inactive during the remainder of the winter, with this stream 
between their camps, — Csesar occupying the left or southern 
bank, Pompey the right or northern side. 

§ 15. As the winter passed away, Csesar was rendered ex- 
tremely anxious by the non-appearance of his second corps, 
which Antony was charged to bring across. News soon reached 
him that Bibulus, stung to the quick by the successful landing 
of the first corps, had put to sea from Corcyra with all his fleet, 
had destroyed thirty of the returning transports, and had ever 
since kept so strict a watch on the coast of Italy, that Antony 

* This is the true date, according to our reckoning. By the Roman 
Calendar, it was December. But, for the military operations which follow, 
it is so important to note the true seasons, that we shall, from this point, gi-ve 
the dates as if the Roman Calendar had already been corrected. 



Chap. LXVIi SECOND CIVIL WAR 681 

did not dare to leave Brundusium. So stubborn Avas the will of 
Bibulus, that he fell a victim to bis own exertions, and died at 
sea. But L. Scribonius Libo continued tbe tactics of Bibulus, 
and Ca3sar's impatience arose to tbe beigbt. He bad lost more 
tban two montbs, and complained that Antony bad neglected 
several opportunities of crossing tbe Ionian Sea. At lengtb be 
engaged a small boat to take bim across to Italy in person. Tbe 
sea ran bigb, and tbe rowers refused to proceed, till tbe General 
revealed bimself to tbem in tbe famous Avords : " You carry 
Caesar and bis fortunes." All nigbt tbey toiled, but wben day 
broke tbey bad made no way, and tbe General reluctantly con- 
sented to put back into tbe Apsus. But soon after, be succeeded 
in sending over a positive message to Antony to cross over at 
all risks ; and if Antony disobeyed, tbe messenger carried a com- 
mission to bis cbief officers, by wbicb tbey were ordered to 
supersede tbeir' commander, and discbarge tbe duty wbicb be 
neglected to perform. Stung by tbis practical rebuke, Antony 
resolved to attempt tbe passage at all risks. As be neared tbe 
coast of Epirus, tbe wind sbifted to tbe soutb-east, and, being 
unable to make tbe port of Oricum, be was obliged to run 
nortbward past Pompey's camp, in full view of tbe enemy. 
Tbey gave cbase ; but be succeeded in landing all bis men near 
tbe beadland of Nympbseum, more tban fifty miles nortb of tbe 
Apsus. His position was critical, for Pompey's army lay between 
bim and Caesar. But Csesar bad already made a rapid march 
round the enemy's position, and succeeded in joining Antony 
before Pompey moved northwards. Tbe latter, finding bimself 
too late, took a new position some miles to tbe nortb of Dyrrba- 
chium, and here formed a strongly-entrenched camp resting 
upon tbe sea. These entrenchments ran in an irregular halt- 
circle of nearly fifteen miles in lengtb, tbe chord of which was 
tbe coast-line of Epirus. 

§ 16. The spring of 48 B.C. was now beginning. It was pro- 
bably in March that Csesar efi'ected his union with Antony. 
Even after tbis junction, be was inferior in numbers to Pompey ; 
and it is not without wonder that we read his own account of 
the audacious attempt with which be began the campaign. His 
plan was to draw lines round Pompey's vast entrenchments, so 
as to cut bim ofi" from Dyrrbachium and from the surrounding 
country. As Pompey's entrenchments measured nearly fifteen 
miles, Caesar's lines must have measured considerably more. 
And as bis army was inferior in numbers, it might have been 
expected that Pompey would not submit to be shut in. But the 
latter general could not interrupt the works without hazarding 
a battle, and bis troops were not yet a match for Caesar's vete- 

29* 



682 CIVIL "WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

rans. The command of the sea insured him supplies and enabled 
him to shift his army ; and he therefore allowed Caesar to carry 
on his lines with little interruption. 

During the winter Caesar's men had suffered terribly for want 
of vegetable food. But as spring advanced, and the crops began 
to ripen, brighter days seemed at hand. Pompey's men, mean- 
while, though supplied from the sea, began to suffer for want of 
fresh water, and their animals for want of green fodder. He 
therefore determined to assume the offensive. At each extremity 
of Caesar's lines, where they abutted upon the sea, a second line 
of entrenchments had been marked out reaching some way 
inland, so that for some distance from the sea the lines might be 
protected from an attack in rear, as well as in front. But this 
part of the work was as yet unfinished ; and, in particular, no 
attempt had been made to carry any defence along the sea so as 
to connect the two lines. Pompey was instructed of this defect 
by some Gallic deserters ; and he succeeded in landing some 
troops at the southern extremity of the works, so as to make a 
lodgement between Caesar's two lines. A series of combats fol- 
lowed. Bat the Pompeians maintained their ground, and Caesar 
perceived that his labour was thrown away, Pompey had 
reestablished his land communication with Dyrrhachium ; and 
circuravallation being now impossible, Caesar determined to shift 
the scene of action. 

§ 17. During the spring he had detached Cn. Domitius Cal- 
vinus with two Legions into Macedonia, to intercept the march 
of Metellus Scipio, who was expected every day to bring rein- 
forcements to Pompey from Syria. Scipio had been delayed by 
the necessity of securing his Province against the Parthians; 
and had spent much time in levying contributions o^ his line of 
march. When he arrived in Macedonia he found his passage 
barred by Calvinus at Pella. But, about the time of Caesar's 
defeat at Dyrrhachium, Calvinus had been obliged, by want of 
provisions, to fall back towards Epirus, while Caesar himself 
marched by ApoUonia up the valley of the Aoiis. Pompey im- 
mediately detached a strong force to separate Calvinus from his 
chief. But Calvinus, informed of Caesar's retreat, moved with 
great rapidity to the southward, and effected a union with his 
general in the north-western corner of Thessaly. The Caesarian 
army, thus united, advanced to Gomphi, which Avas taken and 
given up to plunder. Meanwhile, Scipio had occupied Larissa; 
but, with this exception, all other Thessalian cities opened 
their gates to Caesar ; and the harvest being now ripe, his army 
revelled in the abundant supplies of the rich plain of Thessaly. 

§ 18. Soon after, Pompey entered Thessaly from the north 



Chap. LXVn. PHARSALIA. 683 

and joined Scipio at Larissa. The Pompeian leaders, elated by 
success, were quarrelling among themselves for the prize, which 
they regarded as already won. Lentulus Spinther, Domitius 
Ahenobarbus, and Metellus Scipio, all claimed Csesar's Pontifi- 
cate. Domitius proposed that all who had remained in Italy or 
had not taken an active part in the contest should be brought 
to trial as traitors to the cause, — Cicero being the person chiefly 
aimed at. Pompey himself was not spared. Domitius nick- 
named him Agamemnon King of men, and openly rejected his 
authority. The advice of the great general to avoid a decisive 
battle was contemptuously set at naught by all but Cato, who 
from first to last advocated any measure which gave a hope of 
avoiding bloodshed. Even Favonius, a blunt and simple-minded 
man who usually echoed Cato's sentiments, loudly complained 
that Pompey's reluctance to fight v/ould prevent his friends from 
eating their figs that summer at Tusculum. 

From Larissa Pompey moved southward, and occupied a 
strong position on an eminence near the city of Pharsalus, 
overlooking the plain which skirts the left bank of the river 
Enipeus. Csesar followed and encamped upon the plain, within 
four miles of the enemy's position. Here the hostile armies 
lay watching each other for some time, till Csesar made a move- 
ment which threatened to intercept Pompey's communications 
with Larissa. The latter now at length yielded to the impa- 
tience of the Senatorial Chiefs. He resolved to descend from 
his position and give battle upon the plain of Pharsalus or 
Pharsalia. 

§ 19. The morning of the 6th of June* saw both armies drawn 
out in order of battle. The forces of Pompey consisted of about 
44,000 men, and were (if Caesar's account is accurate) twice as 
numerous as the army opposed to them. But Caesar's were all 
well-trained troops ; the greater part of Pompey's were levies 
recently collected in Macedonia and Asia, far inferior to the 
soldiers of Gaul and Italy. Pompey's army faced the north. 
His right wing, resting on the river, was commanded- by Scipio, 
the centre by Lentulus Spinther, the left by Domitius. His 
cavalry, far superior to Caesar's, covered the left flank. Caesar 
drew up his forces in three lines, of which the rearmost was to 
act in reserve. His left was upon the river ; and his small force 
of cavalry was placed upon his right, opposite to Pompey's left 
wing. To compensate for his inferiority in this arm, he picked 
out six veteran cohorts, who were to skirmish between the files 
of the horse. Domitius Calvinus commanded in the centre. 

* By the Eoman Calendar, it was the 9th of August. 



684 CIVIL WARS : SECOND PERIOD. Book VIL 

Antony on the left, Caesar himself upon the right, with the 
Tenth Legion in reserve. 

The attack began by Csesar's whole line, which advanced run- 
ning. Pompey ordered his men to wait the charge without 
moving, in hopes that the enemy would lose breath before they 
closed. But Csesar's old soldiers, observing that the Pompeians 
kept their ground, halted to form line and recover breath, before 
they closed with the enemy. A desperate conflict followed. 

While the Legions were engaged along the whole line, Pom- 
pey's cavalry attacked the weak squadrons of Csesar's horse and 
drove them back, upon which the veterans sallied out of the 
ranks and drove their formidable pila straight at the unarmed 
faces of the enemy.* Csesar's squadrons rallied ; and after a 
brave struggle Pompey's cavalry was completely broken and fled 
in disorder. 

Upon this Csesar brought up his reserve ; and the infantry of 
Pompey, assailed by fresh troops in front, and attacked in flank 
by the cavalry and veterans, gave way everywhere. A general 
order was now issued by Csesar to spare the Romans, and to 
throw all their strength upon the foreigners. Pompey himself 
rode off the field to his tent, leaving orders for the troops to 
retreat behind their entrenchments. 

But this was not permitted. His Legionaries dispersed in all 
directions. The Eastern Allies, after a terrible slaughter, fled.; 
and Pompey had only time to mount his horse and gallop ofi" 
through the Decuman or Rearward gate of his camp, as the sol- 
diers of Csesar forced their way in by the Prsetorian or Front 
gate. The booty taken was immense. The hardy veterans of 
Gaul gazed with surprise on the tent of Lentulus, adorned with 
festoons of Bacchic ivy, and on the splendid services of plate 
which were set out everywhere for a banquet to celebrate the 
expected victory. 

§ 20. Before Csesar allowed his tired soldiers to enjoy the 
fruits of the victory of Pharsalia, he required them to complete 
the conquest. The pursuit was continued during the remainder 
of the day, and on the morrow. But the task was easy. The 
clemency of the conqueror induced all to submit. When Caesar 
entered the camp and saw the dead bodies of many Romans 
lying about, he exclaimed, " They would have it so : to have laid 

* Plutarch's story is that the order was given because Pompey's cavalry 
consisted chiefly of young Romans, who were afraid of having their beauty 
spoilt. Csesar, however, mentions that Pompey's cavalry was excellent, and 
does not notice that he gave any order at all about striking at the face. The 
foot soldiers would naturally strike at the most defenceless part, and the story 
of the " spoilt beauty" would be readily added by some scornful Caesarian. 



Chap. LXVII. POMPEY'S FLIGHT. G85 

down our arms would liavo sealed our doom." Most of those 
who perished were foreigners or freedmen. The only distin- 
guished person Avho fell was Domitius Ahenobarbus. Among 
those who submitted, was M. Junius Brutus, a young man of 
whom we shall hear more. 

§ 21. Pompey fled through the gorge of Tempo to the mouth 
of the Peneiis, where he embarked on bord a merchant-vessel 
in company with Lentulus Spinther, Lentulus Cms, and others. 
He dismissed all his slaves. Honest Favonius proved his fidelity 
to the general by undertaking for him such menial offices as 
usually were left to slaves. The master of the ship knew the 
adventurers, and offered to take them, whithersoever they would. 
Pompey first directed his course to Lesbos, where his wife Cor- 
nelia and his younger son Sextus had been sent for safety, and 
having taken them on board he sailed round to Cilicia, where he 
collected a few ships and a small company of soldiers. With 
these he crossed over to Cyprus, where he stayed a short time, 
deliberating on the best means of safety. He still had a powerful 
fleet at sea, under the command of his elder son Cnseus, assisted 
by C. Cassius. Africa was still his own, and King Juba anxious 
to do him service. But after considering several plans, he deter- 
mined to seek an asylum in Egypt. 

§ 22. Ptolemy Auletes, who had been restored by Gabinius, 
Pompey's friend, had left his kingdom to the divided sway of his 
son Ptolemy Dionysius and his daughter Cleopatra, under the 
guardianship of the Senate ; and the Senate had delegated this 
trust to Pompey. Hence his reason for choosing Egypt as his 
place of retreat. But Cleopatra, who was older than her brother, 
had been driven from Alexandria by the people ; and three Greek 
adventurers, — Pothinus a eunuch, Theodotus a rhetorician, and 
Achillas an officer of the army, — governed the kingdom in the 
name of young Ptolemy. When Pompey appeared off Alex- 
andria with a few ships and a force of about 2000 men, these 
ministers were engaged in repelling Cleopatra. A message from 
Pompey, to signify his intention of landing, threw them into 
great alarm. In the Egyptian army were a number of men who 
had formerly served under Pompey in the East, and it was feared 
that they would betray Egypt to their old general. All was left 
to the conduct of Achillas, a bold man troubled by no scruples. 
A small boat was sent to receive the fugitive, under the false 
pretence that the water was too shallow to allow a larger vessel 
to reach the shore. In the boat were Achillas himself, a Roman 
officer named Salvius, and another named Septimius, who had 
served as Tribune under Pompey in the war against the Pirates. 
The great general recognised his old officer, and entered the 



686 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

boat alone. His wife and friends anxiously watched it as it 
slowly made its way back to shore, and were somewhat com- 
forted by seeing a number of persons collected on the beach as 
if to receive Pompey with honour. At length the boat stopped, 
and the general took the hand of the person next him to assist 
him in rising. At this moment Septimius struck him from 
behind. Pompey knew his fate, and fell without a struggle. 
His head was then cut off and taken away, his body left upon 
the beach. When the crowd dispersed, a freedman of Pompey, 
assisted by an old soldier of the great commander, had the piety 
to break up a fishing-boat and form a rude funeral pile. By 
these humble obsequies was the sometime master of the world 
honoured. 

§ 23. So died Pompey. He had lived nearly sixty years, and 
had enjoyed more of the world's honours than almost any Roman 
before him. In youth he was cold, calculating, and hard- 
hearted, covetous of military fame, and not slow to appropriate 
what belonged to others. His talents for war were great. In 
the struggle with Caesar it is plain that, so far as military tactics 
went, Pompey was superior to his great rival ; and had he not 
been hampered by impatient colleagues, the result might have 
been different. In politics he was grasping and selfish, irresolute 
and improvident. He imagined that his achievements gave him 
a title to be acknowledged as the chief of Rome; and when 
neither Senate or People seemed willing to acquiesce in the 
claim, he formed a coalition with politicians Avhose principles he 
disliked, and made himself responsible for the acts of Clodius. 
Lastly, when he found that in this coalition he was unable to 
maintain his superiority over Caesar, he joined the Oligarchy 
who hated him, and lost even the glory which as a soldier he 
had deserved. In private life he was free from those licentious 
habits in which most persons of that day indulged without 
scruple or reproach ; and his tragical death excited a commise- 
ration for him which by his life he hardly deserved. 




M. Junius Brutus. 



CHAPTER LXVIII. 

ABSOLUTE RULE OF C^SAK. (48 44 B.C.) 

§ 1. Caesar follows Pompey to Egypt : lands there : Cleopatra : Alexandrian 
"War: triumph of Csesar. § 2. Pompeians rally at Corcyra : cross over 
to Africa; Scipio placed in command: Cato at Utica. § 3. State of 
"Western Provinces. § 4. Caesar Dictator for second time : at length leaves 
Alexandria. § 5. Conquers Pharnaces, settles Asia, and returns to Rome. 
§ 6. He relieves debtors, and quells mutiny of soldiers at Capua. § 7. 
Crosses over to Africa : victory at Thapsus : death of the Pompeian 
leaders : end of Cato. § 8. Settlement of Africa : Sallust. § 9. Four 
Triimiphs of Csesar: amnesty: donatives. § 10. Fresh war in Spain: 
defeats Pompeians at Munda : death of young Cn.Pompey,escape of Sextus. 
§ 11. Short space of time spent at Rome in Legislation. § 12. He relieves 
Treasury by revising Corn-list. § 13. Liberal Extension of Roman 
Franchise. § 14. Imperial projects. § 15. Enlarges and fills up the 
Senate: pasquinades. § 16. MiHtary colonies. § 11. Encouragement of 
marriage. § 18. Endeavour to hmit Slave labour. § 19. Public build- 
ings. § 20. Reform of Calendar. § 21. Necessary seclusion. § 22. 
Public honours : desire to be proclaimed King. § 23. Growing discontent 
among various classes. § 24. Conspiracy : Brutus. § 25. Assassination 
of Caesar. § 26. Estimate of his character. 

§ 1. On the third day after the battle of Pharsalia, Csesar pur- 
sued Pompey by forced marches. He reached Amphipolis just 
after the fugitive had touched there. On the Hellespont, he fell 
in with a squadron of Pompey's fleet under the comnoand of C. 



688 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VIL 

Cassius, who surrendered to Caesar, and was received by the 
conqueror with the same favour which he had shown to Brutus 
and the rest of his opponents. Caesar crossed the Hellespont in 
boats; in Asia Minor he heard that Pompey had taken ship 
from Cyprus, and immediately concluded that Egypt must be 
his destination. Without a moment's hesitation, he sailed for 
this -country, though he was unable to carry with him more than 
4000 men, and though he incurred imminent risk of being inter- 
cepted by the Pompeian fleet. As soon as his arrival off Alex 
andria was known, Theodotus came off, bearing Pompey's head 
and ring. The conqueror accepted the ring, but turned with 
tears in his eyes from the ghastly spectacle of the head, and 
ordered it to be burnt with due honours. Over the place of 
the funeral-pyre he raised a shrine to J^emesis, the goddess 
assigned by the religion of the Greeks to be the punisher of 
excessive prosperity. He then landed and entered Alexandria 
with his Consular emblems displayed, followed by his small 
army. Presently after, Cleopatra introduced herself in disguise 
into the palace where Caesar had fixed his residence. The con- 
queror, notorious for indulgence in sensual pleasures, yielded 
readily to the blandishments of the princess. But Pothinus 
and Achillas had no wish to lose their importance by agreeing 
to a compromise between the young King their master and his 
sister ; and the people of Alexandria were alarmed at Caesar's 
assumption of authority. A great crowd, supported by Achillas 
and the army, assaulted Caesar's palace, and he escaped with diffi- 
culty to Pharos, the quarter of the city next the sea. In vain he 
endeavoured to ruin the cause of Achillas by seizing the person 
of young Ptolemy. Arsinoe, another daughter of the blood-royal, 
was set up by the army, and Caesar was blockaded in Pharos. 
Constant encounters took place by land and water ; and in one of 
these he was in so much danger, that he was obliged to swim 
for his life from a sinking ship, with his coat of mail between his 
teeth, holding his note-book above water in his left hand. 

He was shut up in Pharos about August, and the blockade 
continued till the winter was far spent. But at the beginning 
of the new year he was relieved by the arrival of considerable 
forces. Achillas was obliged to raise the siege, and a battle in 
the open field resulted in a signal triumph to Caesar. Vast 
numbers of the fugitives were drowned in attempting to cross 
the Nile ; among them the young King himself Caesar installed 
Cleopatra as a sovereign of Egypt, and reserved Arsinoe to grace 
his triumph. 

§ 2. During these months, the Pompeian chiefs recovered 
from their first consternation. Cnaeus, eldest son of Pompey, 



Chap. LXVIII. RALLY OF THE POMPEIANS. 089 

joined Cato at Corey ra, •where also were assembled Cicero, Labi- 
emis, xVtVanius, and otliers. The cbief command was offered to 
Cicero, as the oldest Consular ; but the Orator declined a post 
for which he had neither aptitude nor inclination ; and the com- 
mand was given to Scipio, who arrived at the moment. A con- 
«iderable fleet Avas assembled at Corcyra. Scipio and the rest 
embarked, with the troops that they had rallied, and sailed for 
Africa, in the hope of learning news of their chief Here, as 
they were steering eastward along the coast, they fell in with 
Cornelia and young Sextus, full of the tragic scene which they 
had just witnessed oh the beach of Alexandria. The disheartened 
leaders returned to Cyrene, which refused to admit any one 
within its walls except Cato and such men as he would be answer- 
able for. The fleet, therefore, with Scipio, Labienus, and the 
greater part of the troops, pursued its course across the great 
gulf of the Syrtes to the Province of Africa, Avhere the Pompeian 
cause was upheld by Varus and Juba. Cato also joined them 
after an arduous march across the desert-, and by the beginning 
of next year all the Pompeian leaders were assembled. Dis- 
sensions arose between Varus and Scipio for the command ; to 
compromise the matter it was offered to Cato. The disinterested 
philosopher declined it, and persuaded all to acquiesce in the 
appointment of Scipio. It was then proposed to destroy the 
city of TJtica, as being favourable to Caesar. But Cato offered to 
assume the government of the town, and be responsible for its 
fidelity, thus finally separating himself from the active warfare, 
which from the first he had deprecated and disavowed. 

§ 3. In other parts of the empire affairs were imfavourable to 
Caesar's cause. Pharnaces, son of Mithridates, was daily gather- 
ing strength in Pontus. In Further Spain, the oppressive rule 
of Q. Cassius had excited a mutiny in the army. In Illyricum, 
Gabinius, who had deserted Pompey on occasion of the flight 
from Italy, had been ignominiously worsted by the Pompeian 
leader, M. Octavius, and had died at Salona. In Italy, Caslius and 
Milo, even before the battle of Pharsalia, had endeavoured to 
effect a new Revolution by promising an abolition of all debts ; 
and though they had failed, the project was now renewed by 
the profligate Dolabella. Two Legions at Capua, one of which 
was the favoured Tenth, had risen in mutiny against their 
officers, declaring that they had been kept under their standards 
long enough, and den'ianding their promised reward. 

§ 4. We know not when the news of these threatening events 
reached Caesar's ears at Alexandria, Early in the year 47 b.c. 
he had been proclaimed Dictator for the second time, and had 
named Mark Antony Master of the Horse. This officer was 



690 CIVIL "WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

entrusted AvitL. tlie government of .Italy. But the presence of 
the Dictator himself seemed to be imperiously demanded. Still 
he lingered in Egypt, detained (as his enemies say) by the 
blandishments of Cleopatra, or (as his admirers contend) by the 
necessity of confirming Eoman influence in that country. It 
was not for the space of four months after his victory on the 
Nile that he left Egypt, having remained there altogether for not 
less than three-quarters of a year, 

§ 5. But when once he had shaken off this real or apparent 
lethargy, all his startling rapidity of action returned. He left 
Egypt at the end of May (47 e.g.), and marched northward 
through Syria to crush Pharnaces. On his way he received the 
congratulations of the Jews, who hated the memory of Pompey, 
and in a few days appeared in Pontus. Pharnaces gave him 
battle near Zela, where his father Mithridates had defeated 
Triarius, and the victory gained by Csesar was announced at 
Rome in the famous despatch, "Yeni, vidi, vici." Caesar now 
devoted a short time to the task of settling the affairs of Asia. 
This province had been attached to the Senatorial cause by the 
mild rule of LucuUus and Pompey. Lately, however, the exac- 
tions of Metellus Scipio had caused discontent; and Caesar 
found it easy to win popularity by remitting a portion of the 
monies due to the Imperial Treasury, 

Two months after Caesar left Alexandria, all parts of the East 
were again restored to tranquil submission; and early in July 
Rome beheld him enter her gates for the third time since he had 
crossed the Rubicon. 

§ 6. Assuming his Dictatorial authority, he applied himself 
with his usual industry and rapidity to settle the most pressing 
difiiculties. The disturbances raised by the promises of Dola- 
bella had been quelled by Antony ; and the Dictator attempted 
to relieve distress by paying a year's house-rent for all poor 
citizens out of the public purse. 

The mutiny of the soldiers at Capua was more formidable. 
But Caesar, as was his wont, overcame the danger by facing it 
boldly. He ordered the two Legions to meet him in the 
Campus Martins unarmed. ' They had demanded their dis- 
charge, thinking that thus they would extort a large donation, 
for they considered themselves indispensable to the Dictator. 
He ascended the Tribunal, and they expected a speech. "You 
demand your discharge," he said, "I discharge you." A dead 
silence followed these unexpected words. Caesar resumed : " The 
rewards which I have promised you shall have, when I return to 
celebrate my Triumph with my other troops." Shame now 
filled their hearts, mingled with vexation at the thought that 



Chap. LXVIIL AFRICAN WAR. 691 

tliey who liad borne all tlic heat and burden of the day would be 
excluded from the Triumph. They passionately besought him 
to recall his words, but he answered not. At length, at the 
earnest entreaty of his friends, he again rose to speak. " Qui- 
rites," — he began, as if they were no longer soldiers, but merely 
private citizens. A burst of repentant sorrow broke from the 
ranks of the veterans ; but Cajsar turned away as if he were 
about to leave the Tribunal. The cries rose still louder : they 
besought him to punish them in any way, but not to dismiss 
them from his service. After long delay, he said that " he would 
not punish any one for demanding his due ; but that he could 
not conceal his vexation that the Tenth Legion could not bide 
his time. That Legion at least he must dismiss." Loud ap- 
plause followed from the rest ; the men of the Tenth hung their 
heads in shame, begging him to decimate them, and restore the 
survivors to his favour ; and at length, Caesar, deeming them 
sufficiently humbled, accepted their repentance. The whole 
scene is a striking illustration of the cool and dauntless reso- 
lution of the man. 

§ 7. Having completed all pressing business, he again left 
Rome to meet the Pompeians in Africa. His troops assembled 
at Lilybaeum, and about the middle of October (47 b.c.) he reached 
the opposite coast. But he was too weak to take the field, and 
lay encamped waiting for reinforcements till the winter was far 
spent. Then he advanced against the enemy, and on the 4th of 
February (46 b.c.) encamped near Thapsus, where was fought 
the battle which decided the fate of the campaign. After a 
desperate conflict, the Senatorial army was forced to give way-; 
and Caesar, who always pressed an advantage to the utmost, 
followed them to their camp. The leaders fled in all directions, 
Varus and Labienus escaped into Spain. Scipio put to sea, but 
being overtaken by the enemy's ships sought death by his own 
hands. Such also was the fate of Afranius. Juba fled with old 
Petreius ; and these two rude soldiers, after a last banquet, 
heated with wine, agreed to end their life by single combat. 
The Roman veteran was slain by the African prince, and Juba 
sought death at the hand of a faithful Slave. 

Meanwhile, Cato at Utica had received news of the ruin of his 
party by the battle of Thapsus. He calmly resolved on self- 
slaughter, and after a conversation Avith his friends upon the 
subject, retired to rest. For a moment he forgot his philosophic 
calm, when he saw that his too careful friends had removed his 
sword. Wrathfully reproving them, he ordered it to be brought 
back and hung at his bed's head. There he lay down, and 
turned over the pages of Plato's Phsedo till he fell asleep. In 



692 CIVIL WARS : SECOND PERIOD. Book VIL 

the night tie awoke, and taking his sword from the sheath 
thrust it into his body. His watchful friends heard him utter 
an involuntary groan, and, entering the room, found him 
writhing in agony. They procured surgical aid, and the wound 
was carefully dressed. Cato lay down again apparently insen- 
sible; but, as soon as he was alone, he quietly removed the 
dressings, and tore open the wound, so that his bowels broke 
out, and after no long time he breathed his last. The Romans, 
one and all, even Cicero, admired his conduct. It is true that 
the Stoics, whose doctrines Cato professed, recommended the 
endurance of all evils as indifferent to a philosopher. But Cato 
was still more of a Roman than a Stoic : life had become intole- 
rable to him ; and while Christian judgment must condemn his 
impatience, it must be confessed that from his point of view the 
act was at least excusable. 

§ 8. After this miserable end of the most upright among the 
Senatorial Chiefs, Csesar busied himself in regulating the coun- 
tries he had conquered. Juba's kingdom of Numidia he formed 
into a new Province, and gave it into the care of the historian 
Sallust, who with others had been expelled from the Senate in 
the year 50 B.C., professedly because of his profligate manners, 
but really because of his devoted attachment to Caesar's cause. 
His subsequent life justified both the real and the alleged cause. 
He proved an oppressive ruler, and his luxurious habits were 
conspicuous even in that age. His terse and epigrammatic 
sentences embalmed in two immortal works the merits of 
Marius and of Csesar, and the vices and errors of their Sena- 
torial antagonists. 

§ 9. Caesar returned to Rome for the fourth time since the 
Civil War broke out, about the end of May, 46 b.c. At length 
he had found time to celebrate the Triumphs which he had 
earned since his first Consulship, and to devote his attention to 
those internal reforms, which long years of faction and anarchy 
had made necessary. 

His Triumphs were four in number, over Gaul, Egypt, Pon- 
tus, and Numidia ; — for no mention was made of the Civil War. 
A Roman could not triumph over fellow-citizens; therefore the 
victories of Ilerda and Pharsalia were not celebrated by public 
honours ; nor would Thapsus have been mentioned, had not 
Juba been among the foes. These Triumphs were made 
attractive by splendid gladiatorial shows and combats of wild 
beasts. But what gave them more real splendour was the 
announcement of a general amnesty for all the opponents of the 
Dictator. The memory of the Marian Massacre and of the 
Syllan Proscription was still present to many minds. Domitius 



CU.U-. LXVIIL C^SAll AT ROME. 693 

Ahenobarbus and the Senatorial leaders had vowed vengeance 
against all who took part with Caesar, or even who remained 
neutral. Men could not rid themselves of the belief that when 
all fear of the enemy had ceased the conqueror would glut his 
vengeance by a hecatomb. The certainty that no more blood 
would flow was so much the more grateful. 

After Cfesar s Triumphs all his soldiers were gratified by a mag- 
nificent donation, and every poor citizen received a present both 
of grain and money. The veterans also at length received their 
rewards in lands, which were either public property or were 
.duly purchased with public money. But no Julian Colonies 
were planted on lands wrested by force from citizens. Here 
also the example of Sylla, who confiscated private property to 
reward his troops, was carefully avoided. 

§ 10. After his Triumph every kind of honour was bestowed 
upon Caesar. He was named Dictator for the third time, and 
for the space of ten years. He was also invested with Censorial 
authority for three years ; and in virtue of these combined 
ofiices he became absolute master of the Empire. For several 
months he remained at Rome busily occupied with measures 
intended to remedy the evil eftects of the long continued civil 
discords and to secure order for the future. But in the middle 
of his work he was compelled to quit Rome by the call of 
another war. It will be well to dispose of this before we give 
a brief summary of his great legislative measures. * 

Spain was the Province that required his presence. There 
the two sons of Pompey, with Labienus and Varus, had rallied 
the scanty relics of the African army. The Province was 
already in a state of revolt against Caesar. Q. Cassius, — whom 
Caesar had left as Governor, — had been expelled by his own 
Legions. Bocchus, King of Mauritania, lent aid, and the mal- 
contents in Spain were able to present a formidable front. 
Cassar arrived in Spain late in September, (46 e.g.), after a 
journey of extraordinary rapidity, and found that young Cn. 
Pompey had concentrated his forces near Corduba (Cordova). 
But the Dictator fell sick, and it was not till the first month of 
the next year that he was able to take the field. The enemy 
cautiously declined a battle, but were obliged to retreat towards 
the coast of the Mediterranean. Caesar found them in a strong 
position near Munda, a small town about 25 miles west of 
Malaga ; and he determined on attacking notwithstanding the 
difiiculties of the ground. Success was for some time doubtful. 
So desperate was the conflict, that Caesar is reported to have 
said : — " On other occasions I have fought for victory, here I 
fought for life." At length the enemy gave way. More than 



694 CIVIL WARS: SECOIfD PERIOD. ^ook Til. 

30,000 men fell, among them Varus and Labienus. Cn. Pompey 
fled to tlie coast. Here as he was getting on board a small boat 
he entangled his foot in a rope ; and a friend endeavouring to 
cut away the rope struck the foot instead. The unfortunate 
young man landed again, hoping to lie hid till his wound was 
healed. Finding his lurking-place discovered he limped wearily 
up a mountain path, but was soon overtaken and slain. Sext. 
Pompey escaped into Northern Spain, whence he re-appeared at 
a later time to vex the peace of the Roman world. So important 
did Caesar consider it to quench the last sparks of disaffection 
in a Province which for several years had been under Pompey's 
government that he did not return to Rome till late in Septem- 
ber (45 B.C.), having been absent from the capital nearly a year. 
On this occasion he was less scrupulous than before, for he cele- 
brated a Fifth Triumph in honour of his successes in Spain, 
though these were as much won over Roman Citizens as his former 
victories in that same country, or his crowning glory of Pharsalia. 

§11. From his last Triumph to his death was somewhat more 
than five months (October 45 b.c. — March 44 b.c.) : from his 
Quadruple Triumph to the Spanish Campaign was little more 
than four months (June — September 46 b.c). Into these two 
brief periods were compressed most of the Laws which bear his 
name, and of which we will now give a brief account. The 
evils which he endeavoured to remedy were of old standing. 
His long residence at Rome, and busy engagement in all politi- 
cal matters from early youth to the close of his Consulship, 
made him familiar with every sore place, and with all the pro- 
posed remedies. His own clear judgment, his habits of rapid 
decision, and the unlimited power which he held, made it easier 
for him to legislate than for others to advise. 

§ 12. The long wars, and the liberality with which he had 
rewarded his Soldiers and the People at his Triumphs, had 
reduced the Treasury to a low ebb. He began by revising the 
Register of Citizens, principally for the purpose of abridging the 
list of those who were receiving monthly donations of grain from 
the Treasury. Numbers of foreigners had been irregularly 
placed on the list, and he was able to reduce the list of State- 
paupers resident in or near Rome from 320,000 to less than half 
that number.* The Treasury felt an immediate and a perma- 
nent relief. 

§ 13. But though, for this purpose, Caesar made severe dis- 
tinctions between Roman citizens and the foreign subjects of the 
Republic, no ruler ever showed himself so much alive to the 
claims of all classes of her subjects. Other popular leaders had 
* See Chapt. liii. § 8 (2). 



Chap. LXVIII CESAR'S REFORMS. G9o 

advocated the cause of the Italians, and all free people of the 
Peninsula had in the last thirty years been made Romans : but 
no one had as yet shown interest in the claims of the Provincial 
subjects of Rome, except Sertorius, and his object was rather a 
transference of power from Italians to Spaniards, than an incor- 
poration of Spain with Italy. Caesar was the first acknowledged 
ruler of the Roman State who extended his view beyond the 
politics of the City and took a really Imperial survey of the vast 
dominions subject to her sway. Towards those who were at 
war with Rome he was as relentless as the sternest Roman of 
them all ; but no one so Avell as he knew how " to spare the sub- 
missive :" hardly any one except himself felt pleasure in sparing. • 
All the Cities of Transpadane Gaul, already Latin, were raised 
to the Roman Franchise. The same high privilege was bestowed 
on many Communities of Transalpine Gaul and Spain. The 
Gallic Legion which he had raised, called Alauda from the lark 
Avhich was the emblem on their arms, was rewarded for its 
services by the same gift. All scientific men, of whatever origin, 
were to be allowed to claim the Roman Franchise. After his 
death a plan was found among his papers for raising the Sicilian 
Communities to the rank of Latin Citizens. 

§ 14. The Imperial character of the great Dictator's govern- 
ment is strongly shown by his unfulfilled projects. Among 
these was the draining of the Pontine marshes, the opening of 
Lakes Lucrinus and Avernus to form a harbour, a complete sur- 
vey and map of the whole Empire, — plans afterwards executed 
by Agrippa, the minister of Augustus. Another and more 
memorable design was that of a Code of Laws embodying and 
organising the scattered judgments and precedents which at that 
time regulated the Courts. It was several centuries before this 
great work was accomplished, by which Roman Law became the 
Law of civilised Europe. 

§ 15. The liberal tendency of the Dictator's mind was shown 
by the manner in which he supplied the great gaps which the 
Civil "War had made in the benches of the Senate. Of late years 
the number of that Assembly had been increased from its ori- 
ginal 300. Cicero on one occasion mentions 415 Members taking 
part in the votes, and many of course were absent. But Caesar 
raised it to 900, thus probably doubling the largest number 
that had ever been counted in its ranks. Many of the new 
Senators were fortunate soldiers who had served him well. In 
raising such men to Senatorial rank he followed the example 
of Sylla. Many also were enfranchised Citizens of the towns of 
Cisalpine Gaul. The old Citizens were indignant at this invasion 
of barbarians. " The Gauls," said one wit, " had exchanged the 



696 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

trews for the toga, and had followed the conqueror's triumphal 
car into the Senate." "It were a good deed," said another,, 
"if no one would show the new Senators the way to the House." 

The curule offices, however, were still conferred on men of 
Italian birth. The first- foreigner who reached the Consulship 
was Balbus, a Spaniard of Gades, the friend of Caesar and of 
Cicero ; but this was four years after the Dictator's death. 

§ 16. To revive a military population in Italy was not so much 
the object of Caesar, as that of former leaders of the People. His 
veterans received few assignments of land in Italy. The princi- 
pal settlements by which he enriched them were in the Pro- 
vinces. Corinth and Carthage were made Military Colonies, and 
regained somewhat of their ancient splendour and renown. 

§ 17. He endeavoured to restore the wasted population of 
Italy by more peaceful methods. The marriage-tie, which had 
become exceedingly lax in these profligate times, was encouraged 
by somewhat singular means. A married matron was allowed 
to use more ornaments and more costly carriages than the 
sumptuary Laws of Eome permitted to women generally. A 
married man who had three children born in lawftil wedlock at 
Rome, or four born in Italy, or five born in the Provinces, en^ 
joyed freedom from certain duties and charges. 

§ 18. The great abuse of Slave-labour was difficult to correct. 
It was attempted to apply remedies familiar to despotic govern- 
ments. An Ordinance vv^as issued that no Citizens between 
twenty and forty years of age should be absent from Italy for 
more than three years. An ancient enactment was revived that 
on all estates at least one-third of the labourers should be free 
men. No doubt these measures were of little effect. 

§ 19. Caesar's great designs for the improvement of the City 
was shown by several facts. Under his patronage the first pub- 
lic library was opened at Eome by his friend C. Asinius Pollio, 
famous as a poet, and in later years as the historian of the Civil 
"War. For the transaction of public business, he erected the 
magnificent building called the Basilica Julia, of which we will 
say a few words in a later page. 

§ 20. But of all his acts, that by which his name is best re- 
membered is the Reform of the Calendar. It has been before 
stated that the Roman year had hitherto consisted of 355 days, 
with a month of 30 days intercalated every third year, so that 
the average length of the year was 365 days.* If the intercala- 
tions had been regularly made, the Romans would have lost 
nearly one day in every four years ; since the real length of the 
solar year is about 365i days. But the business was so care- 
* Chapt. i. § 17. 



Chap. LXVIII. CJESAR'S REFORMS. 697 

lessly executed, that the difference between the civil year and 
the solar year sometimes amounted to several months. 

Caesar called in the aid of Greek astronomers, to rectify the 
present error, and prevent error for the future. It was deter- 
mined to make the 1st of January of the Roman year Y09 u.c. 
coincide with the 1st of January of the Solar year which we call 
45 B.C. But it was calculated that this 1st of January of the 
year 709 u.c. would be 67 days in advance of the true time; 
or, in other words, would concur not with the 1st of January 
45 B.C., but with the 22nd of October 46 b.c. And therefore 
two intercalary months, making together 67 days, were inserted 
between the last day of November and the 1st of December of 
the year 708. An intercalary month of 23 days had already been 
added to February of that year, according to the old method. 
Therefore, on the whole, the Roman year 708 consisted in all of 
the prodigious number of 445 days.* It was scofBngly called 
"The Year of Confusion." More justly should it be named, as 
Macrobius observes, " The last Year of Confusion." 

Thus the past error w^as corrected, and the first of January, 
709 u.c. became the same with the 1st of January 45 b.c. 

To prevent future errors, the year was extended from 355 to 
365 days, each month being lengthened, except February, ac- 
cording to the rule which we still observe. But as the solar year 
consists of about 365^ days, it is manifest that it was necessary 
to add one day in every four years, and this was done at the end 
of February, as at present in our Leap Year. 

Such was the famous Julian Calendar, which, with a slight 
alteration, continues to date every transaction and every letter 
of the present day.f 

§ 21. The constant occupation required for these measures of 
reform, all executed in the space of nine or ten months, neces- 
sarily absorbed the chief part of the Dictator's day, and pre- 
vented the free access which great men at Rome usually accorded 

* Z e. 355 + 23 + 67 = 445. 

f The addition of one day in every four years -would be correct, if the solar 
year consisted exactly of 365i days, or 365 days 6 hours. In fact, it consists 
of 365 days, 5 hours, 47 minutes, 51-J- seconds, so that the Julian year is 
longer than the true solar year by about 11 minutes. Caesar's astronomers 
knew this error, but neglected it. Accordingly in the year 1582 a.d. the 
beginning of the Julian year was about 13 days behind the true time. Pope 
Gregory XIII. shortened that year by 10 days, still leaving the year 3 days 
behind the true time ; and to prevent error for the future, ordered the addi- 
tional day of February to be omitted three times in 400 years, Protestant 
England refused to adopt this reform till the year 1752 a.d., when 11 days 
were dropped between the 2nd and 14th of September, which gave rise to the 
vulgar cry, — " Give us back our 11 days." Russia still keeps the Old Style, 
and her reckoning is now 12 days belund that of the rest of Europe. 

30 



698 CIVIL WARS: SECOIfD PERIOD. Book VII 

to suitors and visitors. Cjesar lamented this. The true reason 
for his seclusion was not understood, and the fact diminished his 
popularity. Yet his aftability was the same as ever, and a letter 
of Cicero, in which he describes a visit he received from the con- 
queror in his villa at Puteoli, leaves a pleasing impression of both 
host and guest.* Cicero indeed had fully bowed to circum- 
stances ; and into his speeches for the Pompeians, M. Marcellus 
and Q. Ligarius, he introduced compliments to Csesar too fulsome 
to be genuine. It was in his enforced retirement from public 
life which followed Pharsalia, that he composed some of those 
pleasing Dialogues which we still read.f Both to him and to every 
other Senatorial Chief Caesar not only showed pardon, but favour. 
§ 22, Yet the remnant of the Nobles loved him not. And 
with the People at large he suffered still more, from a belief that 
he wished to be made King. On his return from Spain, he had 
been named Dictator and Imperator for life. His head had for 
some time been placed on the money of the Republic, a regal 
honour conceded to none before him. Quintilis, the fifth month 
of the Calendar, received from him the name which it still bears. 
The Senate took an oath to guard the safety of his person. He 
was honoured with sacrifices, and honours hitherto reserved for 
the Gods, But Caesar was not satisfied. He was often heard 
to quote the sentiment of Euripides, that, " if any violation of 
law is excusable, it is excusable for the sake of gaining sove- 
reign power "J It was no doubt to ascertain the popular sen- 
timents that various propositions were made towards an 
assumption of the title of King, His statues in the Forum 
were found crowned with a diadem ; but two of the Tribunes 
tore it off", and the mob applauded. On the 26th of January, 
at the Great Latin Festival on the Alban Mount, voices in the 
crowd saluted him as King; but mutterings of discontent 
reached his ear, and he promptly said : " I am no King, but 
Caesar," The final attempt was made at the Lupercalia on the 
15th of February. Antony, in the character of one of the 
Priests of Pan, approached the Dictator as he sat presiding in 
his golden chair, and off"ered him an embroidered band, like the 
" diadem" of Oriental Sovereigns. The applause which followed 
was partial, and the Dictator put the ofi"ered gift aside. Then 
a burst of genuine cheering greeted him, which waxed louder 
still when he rejected it a second time. Old traditional feeling 
was too strong 'at Eome even for Caesar's daring temper to 

* Epist. ad Att. xiii. 52. 

f The Brutus, Orator ad M. Bruhim, Partitiones Oratoriae, Academica, 
J)e Finibus honorum et malorum. % Cicero de Off. iii, 21. 



Chap. LXVIII. JEALOUSY AGAINST CiBSAR. 699 

brave it. The People Avould submit to tlie despotic rule of a 
Dictator, but would not have a King. 

Disappointed no doubt he was, and he determined to reign 
abroad, if he could not be King at Rome. A large camp had 
been formed at ApoUonia in lUyricum; in it was present a young 
man, the declared heir of the Dictator. This was C. Octavius, 
son of his niece Atia, and therefore his grand nephew. He was 
born, as we have noted, in the memorable year of Catiline's 
conspiracy, and was now in his nineteenth yqar. From the time 
that he had assumed the garb of manhood his health had been 
too delicate for military service. Notwithstanding this, he had 
ventured to demand the Mastership of the Horse from his uncle. 
But he was quietly refused, and sent to take his first lessons in 
the art of war at Apollonia, where a large and well-equipped 
army had been assembled. This powerful force was destined 
to recover the Eagles of Crassus, which were still retained as 
trophies by the Parthians. A Sibylline oracle being produced, 
saying, " that none but a King could conquer Parthia," a Decree 
was moved in the Senate, by which Caesar was to be enabled to 
assume the style of King, not at Rome, but in the Provinces. 
But events prevented this Decree from being carried into effect. 

§ 23. Meanwhile other causes of discontent had been agitating 
various classes at Rome. Cleopatra appeared at Rome with her 
boy Caesar ion, whom she declared to be her son by Caesar. It 
was her ambition to be acknowledged as his wife, and to obtain 
the Dictator's inheritance for the boy, — a thing hateful' even to 
the degenerate Romans of that day. The more fiery partisans 
of Caesar disapproved of his clemency ; the more prodigal sort 
were angry at his regulations for securing the Provincials from 
oppression. The Populace of the City complained, — the genuine 
Romans at seeing favour extended to Provincials, those of foreign 
origin because they had been excluded from the corn-bounty. 
Caesar no doubt was eager to return to his army, and escape 
from the increasing difficulties which beset his civil government. 
But as soon as he joined the army, he would assume monarchical 
power, in virtue of the late Decree ; and this consideration urged 
the discontented to a plot against his life. 

§ 24. The difficulty Avas to find a leader. At length M. Junius 
Brutus accepted the post of danger. This young man, a nephew 
of Cato, had taken his uncle as an example for his public life. 
But he was fonder of speculation than of action. His habits 
were reserved, rather those of a student than a statesman. He 
had reluctantly joined the cause of Pompey, for he could ill for- 
get that it was by Pompey that his father had been put to death 
in cold blood. After Pharsalia, he was treated by Caesar almost 



700 CIVIL WARS : SECOND PERIOD. Book VIL 

like a son. In the present year lie had been proclaimed Praetor 
of the City, with the promise of the Consulship. But the dis- 
contented remnants of the Senatorial party assailed him with 
constant reproaches. The name of Brutus, dear to all Roman 
patriots, was made a rebuke to him. " His ancestor expelled the 
Tarquins; could he sit quietly under a King's rule?" At the 
foot of the statue of that ancestor, or on his own prastorian tri- 
bunal, notes were placed, containing phrases such as these: — 
" Thou art not Brutus : would thou wert." " Brutus, thou 
sleepest." " Awake, Brutus." Gradually he was brought to 
think that it was his duty as a patriot to put an end to Caesar's 
rule even by taking his life. The most notable of those who 
arrayed themselves under him was Cassius. This man's mo- 
tive is unknown. He had never taken much part in politics; 
he had made submission to the conqueror, and had been re- 
ceived Avith marked favour. Some personal reason probably 
actuated his unquiet spirit. More than sixty persons were 
in the secret, most of them, like Brutus and Cassius, under 
pereonal obligations to the Dictator. P. Servilius Casca was by 
his grace Tribune of the Plebs. L. Tillius Cimber was promised 
the government of Bithynia. Dec. Brutus, one of his old Gallic 
officers, was Pr^etor-elect, and was to be gratified with the rich 
Province of Cisalpine Gaul. C. Trebonius, another trusted officer, 
had received every favour which the Dictator could bestow ; he 
had just laid down the Consulship, and was on the eve of de- 
parture 'for the government of Asia. Q. Ligarius had lately 
accepted a pardon from the Dictator, and rose from a sick bed 
to join the conspirators. 

§ 25. A meeting of the Senate was called for the Ides of March, 
at which Caesar was to be present. This was the day appointed 
for the murder. The secret had oozed out. Many persons 
warned Caesar that some danger was impending. A Greek sooth- 
sayer told him of the very day. On the morning of the Ides 
his wife arose so disturbed by dreams, that she persuaded him 
to relinquish his purpose of presiding in the Senate, and he sent 
Antony in his stead. 

This change of purpose was reported after the House was 
formed. The conspirators Avere in despair. Dec. Brutus at once 
went to Caesar, told him that the Fathers were only waiting to 
confer upon him the sovereign power which he desired, and 
begged him not to listen to auguries and dreams. Caesar was 
persuaded to change his purpose, and was carried forth in his 
litter. On his way, a slave who had discovered the conspiracy 
tried to attract his notice, but was unable to reach him for the 
■ crowd. A Greek Philosopher, named Artemidorus, succeded in 



Chap. LXYIII. ASSASSINATION OF C^SAR. '^01 

putting a roll of paper into his hand, containing full information 
of the conspiracy ; but Casar, supposing it to be a petition, laid 
it by his side for a more convenient season. Meanwhile the 
conspirators had reason to think that their plot had been dis- 
covered. A friend came up to Casca and said, "Ah, Casca, 
Brutus has told me your secret !" The conspirator started, 
but was relieved by the next sentence : " Where will you find 
money for the expenses of the ^dileship ?" More serious alarm 
was felt when Popillius Lsenas ren:iarked to Brutus and Cassius, 
" You have my good wishes ; but what you do, do quickly," — 
especially when the same Senator stepped up to Ccesar on his 
entering the House, and began whispering in his ear. So terri- 
fied was Cassius, that he thought of stabbing himself instead of 
Csesar, till Brutus quietly observed that the gestures of Popillius 
indicated that he was asking a favour, not revealing a fatal secret. 
Ca3sar took his seat without further delay. 

As was agreed, Cimber presented a petition, praying for his 
brother's recall from banishment ; and all the conspirators pressed 
round the Dictator, urging his favourable answer. Displeased at 
their importunity, Caesar attempted to rise. At that moment, 
Cimber seized the lappet of his robe, and pulled him down ; and 
immediately Casca struck him from the side, but inflicted only a 
slight wound. Then all drew their daggers and assailed him. 
Cajsar for a time defended himself with the gown folded over his 
left arm, and the sharp-pointed stile wdiich he held in his right 
hand for writing on the wax of his tablets. But when he saw 
Brutus among the assassins, he exclaimed, " You too, Brutus !" 
and covering his face with his gown offered no further resist- 
ance. In their eagerness, some blows intended for their victim 
fell upon themselves. But enough reached Caesar to do the 
bloody work. Pierced by three-and-twenty wounds, he fell at 
the base of Pompey's statue, which had been removed after 
Pharsalia by Antony, but had been restored by the magnanimity 
of Csesar. 

§ 26. Thus died " the foremost man of all the world," a man 
who failed in nothing that he attempted. He might, Cicero 
thought, have been a great orator ; his Commentaries remain to 
prove that he was a great Avriter. As a general he had few 
superiors, as a statesman and politician no equal. That which 
stamps him as a man of true greatness, is the entire absence of 
vanity and self-conceit from his character. He paid," indeed, 
great attention to his personal appearance, even when his hard life 
and unremitting activity had brought on fits of an epileptic nature, 
and left him with that meagre visage which is made familiar to 
us from his coins. Even then he was sedulous in arranging his 



702 



CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. 



Book VII. 



robes, and was pleased to have the privilege of wearing a laurel 
crown to hide the scantiness of his hair. But these were foibles 
too trifling to be taken as symptoms of real vanity. His mo- 
rality in domestic life was not better or worse than commonly 
prevailed in those licentious days. He indulged in profligate 
amours freely and without scruple. But public opinion re- 
proached him not for this. He seldom, if ever, allowed pleasure 
to interfere with business, and here his character forms a notable 
contrast to that of Sylla. But Sylla loved pleasure more than 
power ; Caesar valued power above all other things. As a gene- 
ral, Caesar was probably no less inferior to Pompey than Sylla to 
Marius. Yet his successes in war, achieved by a man who, in 
his forty-ninth year, had hardly seen a camp, add to our con- 
viction of his real genius. Those successes were due not so 
much to scientific manoeuvres, as to rapid audacity of movement 
and mastery over the wills of men. That he caused the death 
or captivity of more than a million of Gauls, to provide treasure 
and form an army for his political purposes, is shocking to us ; 
but it was not so to Roman moralists. His political career was 
troubled by no scruples ; to gain his end he was careless of the 
means. But before we judge him severely, we must remember 
the manner in which the Marian party had been trampled under 
foot by Sylla and the Senate. If, however, the mode in which 
he rose to power was questionable, the mode in which he exer- 
cised it was admirable. The indulgence with which Caesar spared 
the lives of his opponents, and received them into favour, was 
peculiarly his own. There seemed no escape from anarchy except 
by submission to the strong domination of one capable man. 
The effect of Caesar's fall was to cause a renewal of bloodshed for 
another half generation ; and then his work was finished by a far 
less generous ruler. Those who slew Caesar were guilty of a 
great crime, and a still greater blunder. 




Coins struck upon the death of Ca3sar. 




Coins of the Triumvirs. 



CHAPTEE LXIX. 



FROM THE DEATH OF CJESAR TO THE BATTLE OF PHILIPPI. 

(44—42 B.C.) 

§ 1. Terror of Senate and People : Conspirators retire to Capitol. § 2. Antony 
takes possession of Caesar's money and papers. § 3. Brutus addresses 
People in Forum : Conspirators again retire to Capitol. § 4. Negociation 
■with Antony : confirmation of Caesar's Acts. § 5. Caesar's "Will : Funeral 
in Forum : Riot. § 6. Temporising policy of Antony : he abolishes Dic- 
tatorship : quits Rome. § 7. Octavius lands in Italy and declares himself 
Caesar's heir : quarrel with Antony. § 8. Antony master of Rome : the 
Liberators quit Italy : Cicero returns to Rome. § 9. Antony's use of 
Caesar's papers. § 10. The first Phihppic: Antony's reply: Cicero writes 
the Second Philippic. § 11. Pansa and Hirtius, Consuls-elect, declare for 
Octavius : Antony attacks Dec. Brutus at Mutina : Cicero publishes his 
Second Philippic. § 12. Antony intercepts Pansa, but is himself inter- 
cepted by Hirtius : death of both Consuls. § 13. Hopes of Senate : 
Antony retreats across the Alps and joins Lepidus. § 14 Octavius 
marches to Rome and is elected Consul with Q. Pedius. §.15. Pedian 
Law, condemning Caesar's murderers : death of Dec. Brutus. § 16. For- 
mation of Triumvirate. § 1*7. Proscription. § 18. Death of Cicero. 
§ 19. His character. § 20. Sext. Pompey saves many of Proscribed: 
Octavius attempts to expel him from Sicily. § 21. Brutus in Macedonia, 
Cassius in Syria : death of Trebonius and of Dolabella. § 22. Doings of 
Brutus and Cassius in Asia Minor : vision of Brutus. § 23. Position 
of hostile armies at Philippi. § 24. First Battle of Philippi: death of 
Cassius. § 25. Second Battle of Philippi : death of Brutus. § 26. 
Character of Brutus. 

§ 1. "While the Conspirators were at their bloody work, the mass 
of the Senators rushed in confused terror to the doors ; and 



'704 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

wlien Brutus turned to address liis peers in defence of the deed, 
the Hall was well nigh empty. Cicero, who had been present, 
answered not, though he Avas called by name ; Antony had 
hurried away to exchange his consular robes for the garb of a 
slave. Disappointed of obtaining the sanction of the Senate, 
the Conspirators sallied out into the Forum to win the ear of 
the People. But here too they were disappointed. Not knowing 
,what massacre might be in store, every man had fled to his 
own house ; and in vain the Conspirators paraded the Forum, 
holding up their blood-stained weapons and proclaiming them- 
selves the Liberators of Eome. Disappointment was not their 
only feeling : they were not without fear. They knew that 
Lepidus, being on the eve of departure for his Province of 
Narbonese Gaul, had a Legion encamped on the Island of the 
Tiber : and if he were to unite with Antony against them, Csesar 
would quickly be avenged. In all haste, therefore, they retired 
to the Capitol. Meanwhile, three of Caesar's slaves placed their 
master's body upon a stretcher, and carried it to his house on 
the south side of the Forum with one arm dangling from the 
unsupported corner. In this condition the widowed Calpurnia 
received the lifeless clay of him who had lately been Sovereign 
of the world. 

§ 2. Lepidus moved his troops to the Campus Martins. But 
Antony had no thoughts of using force ; for in that case pro- 
bably Lepidus would have become master of Rome. During the 
night he took possession of the treasure which Caesar had col- 
lected to defray the expenses of his Parthian campaign, and per- 
suaded Calpurnia to put into his hands all the Dictator's papers. 
Possessed of these securities, he barricaded his house on the 
Carinas, and determined to watch the course of events. 

§ 3. In the evening Cicero, with other Senators, visited the 
self-styled Liberators in the Capitol. They had not communi- 
cated their plot to the Orator, through fear (they said) of his 
irresolute counsels ; but now that the deed was done, he extolled 
it as a godlike act. Next morning, Dolabella, Cicero's son-in- 
law, whom Csesar had promised should be his successor in the 
Consulship, assumed the Consular fasces and joined the Libe- 
rators ; while Cinna, son of the old Marian leader, and therefore 
brother-in-law to Caesar, threw aside his Praetorian robes, de- 
claring he would no longer wear the tyrant's livery. Dec. Brutus, 
a good soldier, had taken a band of gladiators into pay, to serve 
as a body-guard of the Liberators. Thus strengthened, they 
ventured again to descend into the Forum. Brutus mounted the 
Tribune, and addressed the People in a dispassionate speech, 
which produced little effect. But when Cinna assailed the 



Chap. LXIX. ROME AFTER CESAR'S MURDER. ^05 

memory of tlic Dictator, the crowd broke out into menacing 
cries, and the Liberators again retired to the Capitol, 

8 4. That same night they entered into negociations with 
Antony, and the result appeared next morning, the second after 
the murder. The Senate, summoned to meet, obeyed the call in 
large numbers. Antony and Dolabella attended in their Con- 
sular robes, and Cinna resumed his Praetorian garb. It was soon 
apparent that a reconciliation had been efiected : for Antony 
moved that a general amnesty should be granted, and Cicero 
seconded the motion in an animated speech. It was carried ; 
and Antony next moved, that all the Acts of the Dictator should 
be recognised as law. He had his own purposes here ; but the 
Liberators also saw in the motion an advantage to themselves ; 
for they w^ere actually in possession of some of the chief Magis- 
tracies, and had received appointments to some of the richest 
Provinces of the Empire. This proposal, therefore, was favour- 
ably received ; but it was adjourned to the next day, together 
Avith the important question of Caesar's Funeral. 

On the next day, Caesar's Acts were formally confirmed, and 
among them his Will was declared valid, though its provisions 
were yet unknown. After this, it was difficult to reject the pro- 
posal that the Dictator should have a public burial. Old Senators 
remembered the riots that attended the funeral of Clodius, and 
shook their heads. Cassius opposed it. Bat Brutus, with im- 
prudent magnanimity, decided in favour of allowing it. To seal 
the reconciliation, Lepidus entertained Brutus at dinner, and 
Cassius was feasted by Mark Antony. 

§ 5. The Will w^as immediately made public. Cleopatra was 
still in Rome, and entertained hopes that the boy Ceesarion would 
be declared the Dictator's heir ; for though he had been married 
thrice, there were no one of his lineage surviving. But Caesar 
was too much a Eoman, and knew the Romans too well, to be 
guilty of this folly. Young C. Octavius, his sister's son, was de- 
clared his heir. Legacies were left to all his supposed friends, 
among whom were several of those who had assassinated him. 
His noble gardens beyond the Tiber were devised to the use of 
the Public, and every Roman Citizen was to receive a donation of 
300 sesterces (between 21. and U. sterling). The eff'ect of this 
recital Avas electric. Devotion to the memory of the Dictator 
and hatred for his murderers at once filled every breast. 

Two or three days after this followed the Funeral. The body 
was to be burnt and the ashes deposited in the Campus Martins 
near the tomb of his daughter Julia. But it was first brought 
into the Forum upon a bier inlaid with ivory and covered with 
rich tapestries, which was carried by men high in rank and 

30* 



706 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

office. Th&re Antony, as Consul, rose to pronounce the Funeral 
Oration. He ran through, the chief acts of Caesar's life, recited 
his "Will, and then spoke of the death which had rewarded him. 
To make this more vividly present to the excitable Italians, he 
displayed a waxen image marked with the three-and-twenty 
wounds, and produced the very robe which he had worn all rent 
and blood-stained. Soul-stirring dirges added to the solemn 
horror of the scene. But to us the memorable speech which 
Shakspere puts into Antony's mouth will give the liveliest notion 
of the art used and the impression produced. That impression 
was instantaneous. The Senator friends of the Liberators who 
had attended the ceremony looked on in moody silence. Soon 
the menacing gestures of the crowd make them look to their 
safety. They fled ; and the multitude insisted on burning the 
body, as they had burnt the body of Clodius, in the sacred pre- 
cincts of the Forum. Some of the veterans who attended the 
funeral, set fire to the bier ; benches and firewood heaped round 
it soon made a sufficient pile. 

From the blazing pyre the crowd rushed, eager for vengeance, 
to the houses of the Conspirators. But all had fled betimes. 
One poor wretch fell a victim to the fury of the mob, — Helvius 
Cinna, a poet who had devoted his art to the service of the Dic- 
tator. He was mistaken for L. Cornelius Cinna the Praetor, and 
torn to pieces before the mistake could be explained.* 

§ 0. Antony was now the real Master of Rome. The treasure 
which he had seized gave him the means of purchasing goodwill, 
and of securing the attachment of the veterans stationed in 
various parts of Italy. He did not, however, proceed in the 
course which, from the tone of his Funeral harangue, might have 
been expected. He renewed friendly intercourse with Brutus 
and Cassius, who were encouraged to visit Rome once at least, 
if not oftener, after that day ; and Dec. Brutus, with his gladi- 
ators, was suffered to remain in the City. Antony went still 
further. He gratified the Senate by passing a Law to abolish 
the Dictatorship for ever. He then left Rome to win the favour 
of the Italian Communities, and try the temper of the veterans. 

§ 7, Meanwhile another actor appeared upon the scene. This 
was young Octavius. He had been but six months in the camp 
at ApoUonia ; but in that short time he had formed a close 
friendship with M. Yipsanius Agrippa, a young man of his own 
age, who possessed great abilities for active life, but could not 
boast of any distinguished ancestry. As soon as the news of 

* This story is however rendered somewhat doubtful by the manner in 
•which Cinna is mentioned in Virgil's ninth Eclogue, which was certainly 
written in or after the year 40 b.c. 



v3hap. LXIX OCTAVIUS RETURNS TO ROME. 707 

his uncle's assassination reached the camp, his friend Agrippa 
reconunended liini to appeal to the troops, and march upon 
Kome. But the youth, with a wariness above his years, re- 
sisted these hold counsels. Landing near Brundusium almost 
alone, he there first heard that Caesar's Will had been published, 
and that he was declared Caesar's heir. He at once accepted the 
dangerous honour. As he travelled slowly towards the City, 
he stayed some days at Puteoli with his mother Atia, who was 
now married to L. Philippus. Both mother and stepfather at- 
tempted to dissuade him from the perilous business of claiming 
his inheritance. At the same place he had an interview with 
Cicero, who had quitted Rome in despair after the Funeral, and 
left the Orator under the impression that he might be won to 
what was deemed the patriotic party. He arrived at Rome about 
the beginning of May, and demanded from Antony, who had 
now returned from his Italian tour, an account of the moneys of 
which the Consul had taken possession, in order that he might 
discharge the obligations laid upon him by his uncle's Will. 
But Antony had already spent great part of the money in brib- 
ing Dolabella and other influential persons ; nor was he willing 
to give up any portion of his spoil. Octavius therefore sold 
what remained of his uncle's property, raised money on his own 
credit, and paid all legacies Avith great exactness. This act 
earned him much popularity. Antony began to fear this boy of 
eighteen, whom he had hitherto despised, and the Senate learned 
to look on him as a person to be conciliated. 

With this feeling they decreed that the month Quintilis 
should continue to be styled July, as had been determined in 
the Dictator's lifetime : and a day was set apart for celebrating 
his memory with divine honours. 

§ 8. Still Antony remained in possession of all actual power. 
The Senate voted, on his demand, that the Provinces of Mace- 
donia and Syria, though granted to Brutus and Cassius by the 
act of Caesar, should be given to C. Antonius and Dolabella, and 
that the coveted Province of Cisalpine Gaul should be transferred 
from Dec. Brutus to Antony himself. The news of these arbi- 
trary acts convinced the Liberators that they had nothing to 
hope at Rome. Dec. Brutus immediately left the City and took 
possession of his Province by force. But M. Brutus and Cassius 
still dallied. Their vacillating conduct during this time gives us 
an unfavourable impression of their fitness for any enterprise 
of mark. Cicero, not himself remarkable for political firmness, 
in this crisis displayed a vigour worthy of his earlier days, and 
was scandalised by the unworthy bickerings of his friends.* At 

* See an interesting Letter, in whicli he describes a conference held by 
the Conspirators in his presence at Antium. — Add Att. xv. 11, 



708 CIVIL WARS : SECOND PERIOD. Book VIL 

length they set sail from Velia for Greece. This was in the 
month of September. Cicero also had at one moment made up 
his mind to retire from public life and end his days at Athens, 
in learned leisure. In the course of this summer he continued 
to employ himself on some of his most elaborate treatises. His 
works on the Nature of the Gods and on Divination, his Offices, 
his Dialogue on Old Age, and several other Essays belong to this 
period, and mark the restless activity of his mind. But though 
he twice set sail from Italy, he was driven back to port at Velia, 
where he found Brutus and Cassius. Here he received letters 
from Au. Hirtius, and other friends of Csesar, which gave him 
hopes that, in the name of Octavius, they might successfully 
oppose Antony, and restore constitutional government. He 
determined to return, and announced his purpose to Brutus and 
Cassius, who commended him, and took leave of him. They 
went their way to the East to raise armies against Antony ; he 
repaired to Rome to fight the battles of his party in the Senate 
House. 

§ 9. Meanwhile Antony had been running riot. In possession 
of Caesar's papers, with no one to check him, he produced ready 
warrant for every measure which he wished to carry, and pleaded 
the vote of the Senate which confirmed all the Acts of Csesar. 
When he could not produce a genuine paper, he interpolated or 
forged what was needful. 

§ 10. On the day after Cicero's return (September 1st) there 
was a meeting of the Senate. But the Orator did not attend, 
and Antony threatened to send men to drag him from his house. 
Next day Cicero was in his place, but now Antony was absent. 
The Orator rose and addressed the Senate in what is called his 
First Philippic. This was a measured attack upon the govern- 
ment and policy of Antony, but personalities were carefully 
eschewed ;^the tone of the whole speech, indeed, is such as 
might be delivered by a leader of opposition in Parliament at 
the present day. But Antony, enraged at his boldness, sum- 
moned a meeting for the 19th of September, which Cicero did 
not think it prudent to attend. He then attacked the absent 
Orator in the strongest language of personal abuse and menace. 
Cicero sate down^ and composed his famous Second Philippic, 
which is written as if it were delivered on the same day, in 
reply to Antony's invective. At present, however, he contented 
himself with sending a copy of it to Atticus, enjoining secrecy. 

§ 11. Matters quickly drew to a head between Antony and 
Octavius. The latter had succeeded in securing a thousand men 
of his uncle's veterans who had settled in Campania ; and by 
great exertions in the different towns of Italy had levied a con- 



Chap. LXIX. ANTONY BEFORE MUTINA. 709 

siderablc force. Meantime fouv of the Epirote Legions had just 
landed at Brundusiuni, and Antony hastened to attach them to 
his cause. But the Uirgess Avhich he oftered them was only a 
hundred denaries a man, and the soldiers laughed in his face. 
Antony, enraged at their conduct, seized the ringleaders, and 
decimated them. But this severity only served to change their 
open insolence into sullen anger, and emissaries from Octavius 
Avere ready to draw them over to the side of their young master. 
They had so far obeyed Antony as to march northwards to 
Ariminum, while he repaired to Rome. But as he entered 
the Senate House, he heard that two of the four Legions 
had deserted to his rival, and in great alarm he hastened to 
the camp just in time to keep the remainder of the troops 
imder his standard, by distributing to every man five hundred 
denaries. 

The persons to hold the Consulship for the next year had been 
designated by Caesar. They were both old ofBcers of the Gallic 
army, C. Vibius Pansa, and An. Hirtius, the reputed author of 
the Eighth Book of the History of the Gallic War. Cicero was 
ready to believe that they had become patriots, because, dis- 
gusted with the arrogance of Antony, they had declared for Oc- 
tavius and the Senate. Antony began to fear that all parties 
might combine to crush him. He determined, therefore, no 
longer to remain inactive ; and about the end of November, 
having collected all his troops at Ariminum, he marched along 
the ^inilian road to drive Dec. Brutus out of Cisalpine Gaul. 
Decimus was obliged to throw himself into Mutina (Modena), 
and Antony blockaded the place. As soon as his back was 
turned, Cicero published the famous Second Philippic, in which 
he lashed the Consul with the most unsparing hand, going 
through the history of his past life, exaggerating the debauch- 
eries, which were common to Antony with great part of the 
Roman youth, and painting in the strongest colours the profligate 
use he had made of Cajsar's papers. Its effect was great, and 
Cicero followed up the blow by the following twelve Philippics, 
which were speeches delivered in the Senate House and Forum, 
at intervals from December 44 b.c. to April in the next year. 

§ 12. Cicero was anxious to break with Antony at once, by 
declaring him a public enemy. But the latter was still re- 
garded by many Senators as the head of the Caesarian party, and 
it was resolved to treat with him. But the demands of Antony 
were so extravagant, that negociations were at once broken off, 
and nothing remained but to try the fortune of arms. The 
Consuls proceeded to levy troops; but so exhausted was the 
Treasury, that now for the first time since the triumph of 



YIO CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VIL 

^milius PauUus, it was found necessary to levy a property-tax 
on the citizens of Rome. 

Octavius and the Consuls assembled their forces at Alba. On 
the first day of the new year (43 B.C.) Hirtius marched for Mu- 
tina, with Octavius under his command. The other Consul, 
Pansa, remained at Rome to raise new levies; but by the end 
of March he also marched to form a junction with Hirtius. 
Both parties pretended to be acting in Caesar's name. 

Antony left his brother Lucius in the trenches before Mutina, 
and took the field against Hirtius and Octavius. For three 
months the opponents lay watching each other. But when An- 
tony learnt that Pansa was coming up, he made a rapid move- 
ment southward with two of his veteran Legions, and attacked 
him. A sharp conflict followed, in which Pansa's troops were 
defeated, and the Consul himself was carried, mortally wounded, 
off the field. But Hirtius was on the alert, and assaulted An- 
tony's wearied troops on their way back to their camp, with 
some advantage. This was on the 15th of April, and on the 
27th, Hirtius drew Antony from his entrenchments before Mu- 
tina. A fierce battle followed, which ended in the troops of 
Antony being driven back into their lines. Hirtius followed 
close upon the flying enemy; the camp was carried by storm, and 
a complete victory would have been won had not Hirtius himself 
fallen. Upon this disaster Octavius drew off" the troops. The 
news of the first battle had been reported at Rome as a victory, 
and gave rise to extravagant rejoicings. The second battle was 
really a victory, but all rejoicing was damped by the news that 
one Consul was dead and the other dying. No such fatal mis- 
chance had happened since the Second Punic War, when Mar- 
cellus and Crispinus fell in one day. 

§ 13. After his defeat Antony felt it impossible to maintain 
the siege of Mutina. "With Dec. Brutus in the town behind 
him, and the victorious Legions of Octavius before him, his 
position was critical. He therefore prepared to retreat, and 
effected this purpose like a good soldier. His destination was 
the province of Narbonese Gaul, where Lepidus had assumed the 
government, and had promised him support. But the Senate 
also had hopes in the same quarter. L. Munatius Plancus com- 
manded in Northern Gaul, and C. Asinius Pollio in Southern 
Spain. Sext. Pompeius had made good his ground in the latter 
country, and had almost expelled Pollio from Baetica. Plancus 
and Pollio, both friends and favourites of Caesar, had as yet 
declared neither for Antony nor Octavius. If they would declare 
for the Senate, Lepidus, a feeble and fickle man, might desert 
Antony; or, if Octavius would join with Dec. Brutus, and 



Chap. LXIX. PEDIAN LAW. 711 

pursue him, Antony might not be able to escape from Italy at 
all. But these political combinations failed. Phancus and PoUio 
stood aloof, waiting for the course of events. Dec. Brutus was 
not strong enough to pursue Antony by himself, and Octavius 
w^as unwilling, perhaps unable, to unite the veterans of Caesar 
Avith troops commanded by one of Caesar's murderers. And so 
it happened, that Antony efiected his retreat across the Alps, 
but not without extreme hardships, wdiich he bore in common 
Avitli the meanest soldier. It was at such times that his good 
qualities always showed themselves, and his gallant endurance 
of misery endeared him to every man under his command. On 
his arrival in Narbonese Gaul he met Lepidus at Forum Julii 
(Frejus), and here the two commanders agreed on a plan of 
operations. 

§ 14. The conduct of Octavius gave rise to grave suspicions. 
It was even said that the Consuls had been killed by his agents. 
Cicero, who had hitherto maintained his cause, was silent. He 
had delivered his fourteenth and last Philippic oh the news of 
the first victory gained by Hirtius. But now he talked in private 
of " removing" the boy of whom he had hoped to make a tool. 
Octavius, however, had taken his part, and was not to bo re- 
moved. Secretly he entered into negociations with Antony. 
After some vain etforts on the part of the Senate to thwart him, 
he appeared in the Campus Martins with his Legions. Cicero 
and most of the Senators disappeared, and the fickle populace 
greeted the young heir of C^sar Avith applause. Though he was 
not yet twenty he demanded the Consulship, having been pre- 
viously relieved from the provisions of the Lex Annalis by a 
Decree of the Senate, and he was elected to the first office in the 
State, with his cousin Q. Pedius.* 

§ 15. A Curiate Law passed, by which Octavius was adopted 
into the Patrician Gens of the Julii, and was put into legal pos- 
session of the name which he had already assumed, — C. Julius 
Caesar Octavianus. We shall henceforth call him Octavian. 

The change in his policy was soon indicated by a Law, in 
which he formally sej)arated himself from the Senate. Pedius 
brought it forward. By its provisions all Caesar's murderers 
were sumnoned to take their trial. Of course, none of them 
appeared, and they were condemned by default. By the end 
of September Octavian was again in Cisalpine Gaul, and in close 
negociation with Antony and Lepidus. The fruits of his conduct 
soon appeared. Plancus and Pollio declared against Caesar's 

* Pedius was son of Caesar's second sister, Julia minor, and therefore first 
cousin (once removed) to Octavius. 



<J'12 CIVIL WAES: SECOl^D PERIOD. Book VII. 

murderers. Dec. Brutus, deserted by his soldiery, attempted to 
escape into Macedonia through lUyricum ; but he was overtaken 
near Aquileia, and slain by order of Antony. 

8 16. Italy and Gaul being now clear of the Senatorial party, 
Lepidus, as mediator, arranged a meeting between Octavian and 
Antony, upon an island in a small river near Bononia (Bologna). 
Here the three potentates agreed that they should assume a joint 
and coordinate authority, under the name of " Triumvirs for 
settling the affairs of the Commonwealth." Antony was to have 
the two Gauls, except the Narbonese district, which, with Spain, 
was assigned to Lepidus ; Octavian received Sicily, Sardinia, and 
Africa. Italy was for the present to be left to the Consuls of 
the year, and for the ensuing year Lepidus, with Plancus, re- 
ceived promise of this high oflSce. In return, Lepidus gave up 
his military force, while Octavian and Antony, each at the head of 
ten Legions, prepared to conquer the eastern part of the Empire^ 
which could not yet be divided like the Western Provinces, be^ 
cause it was in possession of Brutus and Cassius. 

§ 17. But before they began war, the Triumvirs agreed to 
follow the example set by Sylla, — to extirpate their opponents by 
a Proscription, and to raise money by confiscation. They framed 
a list of all men's names whose death could be regarded as advan- 
tageous to any of the three, and on this list each in turn pricked 
a name. Antony had made many personal enemies by his pro- 
ceedings at Rome, and was at no loss for victims. Octavian had 
few direct enemies ; but the boy-despot discerned with precocious 
sagacity those who were likely to impede his ambitious projects, 
and chose his victims with little hesitation. Lepidus would not 
be left behind in the bloody work. The author of the Philippics 
was one of Antony's first victims ; Octavian gave him up, and 
took as an equivalent for his late friend the life of L. Caesar, 
uncle of Antony. Lepidus surrendered his brother Paullus for 
some similar favour. So the work went on. The description 
already given of Sylla's Proscription may be repeated here lite- 
rally, except that every horror was increased, and the number of 
victims multiplied. Not fewer than three hundred Senators 
and two thousand Knights were on the list. Q. Pedius, an'honest 
and upright man, died in his Consulship, overcome by vexation 
and shame at being implicated in these transactions. 

§ 18. As soon as their secret business was ended, the Tri- 
umvirs determined to enter Rome publicly. Hitherto they had 
not published more than seventeen names of the Proscribed. 
They made their entrance severally on three successive days, 
each attended by a Legion. A Law was immediately brought in 
to invest them formally with the supreme authority, which they 



Chap. LXIX. DEATH OF CICERO. ' 713 

had nssiuned. This Avas followed by the promulgation of suc- 
cessive lists, each larger than its predecessor. 

Among the victims, far the most conspicuous was Cicero. 
With his brother Quintus, the old Orator had retired to his 
Tusculan villa after the Battle of Mutina; and now they en- 
deavoured to escape in the hope of joining Brutus in Macedonia : 
for the Orator's only son was serving as a Tribune in the Libe- 
rator's army. After many changes of domicile, they reached 
Astura, a little island near Antium, where they found themselves 
short of money, and Quintus ventured to Rome to procure the 
necessary supplj^ Here he w^as recognised and seized, together 
with his sou. Each desired to die first, and the mournful claim 
to precedence was settled by the soldiers killing both at tlie 
same moment. Meantime Cicero had put to sea. But even in 
this extremity he could not make up his mind to leave Italy, 
and put to land at Circeii. After further hesitation, he again 
embarked, and again sought the Italian shore near Formise (Mola 
di Gaeta). For the night he stayed at his villa near that place ; 
and next morning would not move, exclaiming, — " Let me die in 
my own country, — that country which I have so often saved." 
But his faithful slaves forced him into a litter, and carried him 
again towards the coast. Scarcely were they gone, when a band 
of Antony's blood-hounds reached his villa, and were piit upon 
the track of their victim by a young man who owed everything 
to the Ciceros. The old Orator from his litter saw the pursuers 
coming up. His own followers were strong enough to have made 
resistance ; but he desired them to set the litter down. Then, 
raising himself on his elbow, he calmly waited for the rufiians, 
and otfered his neck to the sword. He was soon despatched. 
The chief of the band, by Antony's express orders, hcAved oft' the 
head and hands and carried them to Rome. Fulvia, the widow 
of Clodius and now the wife of Antony, drove her hair-pin 
through the tongue which had denounced the iniquities of both 
her husbands. The head which had given birth to the second 
Philippic, and the hands which had written it, were nailed to the 
Rostra, the home of their eloquence. The sight and the associa- 
tions raised feelings of horror and pity in every heart. 

§ 19. Cicero died in his sixty-fourth year. He had fallen on 
evil times ; and, being eminently a man of peace, was constantly 
called upon to mingle in counsels of civil war. From his first 
appearance in public during the Dictatorship of Sylla to the 
great triumph of his Consulship, he rose with a vigorous and 
unflagging energy, Avhich gave promise of a man fit to cope with 
the dangers that were then closing i-ound the Constitution. But 
the performance was not equal to the promise. When once 



714 eiVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

Cicero had joined the ranks of tlie Senatorial Nobility, liis polit- 
ical conduct is marked by an almost peevish vacillation. His 
advances were coldly rejected by Pompey. He could not make 
up his mind to break entirely with Caesar. His new Senatorial 
associates never heartily welcomed the New Man, whose labo- 
rious habits contrasted disadvantageously with their own. As 
the first Orator of the day, he thought he had a claim to be 
considered as equal to the first Statesmen ; and the rejection of 
this claim even by his own party threw him still more out of 
harmony with that party. 

If we turn from his public to his private character, our com- 
mendations need less reserve. None but must admire the 
vigorous industry with which from early youth he prepared for 
his chosen profession of an Advocate, full of the generous belief 
that every branch of liberal studies must be serviceable to one 
who is expected to bring out of his treasure things new and 
old.* To mould his multi&rious knowledge he possessed a readi- 
ness of speech which sometimes betrayed him into verbosity. 
The Advocate with an eye only to his verdict is sometimes for- 
gotten in the Orator who desires to display his own powers. 
When the Forum and the Senate-house were closed to him, he 
poured the overflowing abundance of his acquirements into those 
dialogues and treatises which we still read with delight. He 
wrote rapidly and fluently as he spoke, rather to amuse and 
employ his mind in times of enforced idleness, than as one who 
feels a call to instruct or benefit mankind. His disposition 
Avas extremely amiable. He felt no jealousy for rivals : Hor- 
tensius was among his intimate friends, and is chiefly known 
to us by Cicero's generous praise. No man had more friends. 
In his family relations he shines brightly amid the darkness 
of that age. His wife Terentia was one with whom he had 
little sympathy ; her masculine energy was oppressive to his 
less resolute character. It was a relief, doubtless, to find 
an excuse for divorcing her in the troubles of the Civil War. 
But divorces were matters of course in these times. Nor 
did public opinion condemn him, when to mend his broken 
fortunes he married Publilia, a girl of large property, who was 
his ward. To his afi^ection for his brother Quintus, and for his 
children, there is no drawback. On the whole, his character 
displays much weakness, but very little evil ; while the perfect 
integrity and justice of his life, in an age when such qualities 
were rare, if they do not compensate for his defects in a political 
point of view, yet entitle him to the regard and admiration of 
all good men. 

See the fine passage in the speech pro Archia poeta, 6. 



Chap. LXIX. BRUTUS AND CASSIUS. 715 

§ 20. Many of the Proscribed escaped tlieir fate, and found 
refuge, sonic ■with Brutus in the East, some in Africa, more still 
■with Sext. Pompeius. The adventurer took advantage of the 
troubles in Italy to extend his po^«'er. He occupied Sicily, and 
his fleets s^wept the coasts of Italy to afford assistance to the 
Proscribed. Next year, Avhile Antony ■was intrusted -with the 
task of levying troops against Brutus and Cassius, Octavian 
undertook to wrest Sicily fr^m the hands of Sextus. But his 
fleet Avas encountered and beaten off by the skilful captains of 
the enemy ; and Octavian ■u'as compelled to depart for the East 
without accomplishing his purpose. 

§ 21. Brutus and Cassius, Avhen they left Italy in the autumn 
of 44 B.C., at once repaired to the Provinces allotted to them, 
though by Antony's influence the Senate had transferred Mace- 
donia from Brutus to his o^wn brother Caius, and Syria from 
Cassius to Dolabella. C. Antonius "was already in possession of 
parts of Macedonia ; but Brutus succeeded in dislodging him. 
Meaii"while Cassius, already ■well kno^wn in Syria for his successful 
conduct of the Parthian, war, had established himself in that 
Province, before he heard of the approach of Dolabella, This 
■worthless man left Italy about the same time as Brutus and 
Cassius, and, at the head of several Legions, marched without 
opposition through Macedonia into Asia Minor. Here C. Tre- 
bonius had already arrived. But he was unable to cope with 
Dolabella ; and the latter surprised him and took him prisoner 
at Smyrna. He was put to death with unseemly contumely in 
Dolabella's presence. This was in February 43 b.c. ; and thus 
two of Csesar' s murderers, in less than a year's time, felt the 
blow of retributive justice. When the news of this piece of 
butchery reached Rome, Cicero, belie-ving that Octavian was a 
puppet in. his hands, was ruling Rome by the eloquence of his 
Philippics. On his motion, Dolabella was declared a public 
enemy.'* Cassius lost no time in marching his Legions into 
Asia, to execute the behest of the Senate, though he had been 
dispossessed of his Province by the Senate itself. Dolabella 
threw himself into Laodicea, where he sought a voluntary death. 

§ 22. By the end of 43 B.C., therefore, the whole of the East 
was in the hands of Brutus and Cassius. But instead of making 
preparations for war with Antony, the two Commanders spent 
the early part of the year 42 b.c. in plundering the miserablo. 
cities of Asia Minor. Brutus demanded men and rnoney of the 
Lycians ; and, when they refused, he laid siege to Xanthus, their 
principal city. The Xanthians made the same brave resistance 

* He had divorced Tullia, the Orator's daughter, before he left Italy. 



716 CIVIL "WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

which they had offered 500 years before to the Persian invaders.* 
They burnt their city, and put themselves to death rather than 
submit. Brutus vpept over their fate, and abstained from 
further exactions. But Cassius shovped less moderation ; from 
the Rhodians alone, though they were Allies of Rome, he de- 
manded all their precious metals. After this campaign of 
plunder, the two chiefs met at Sardis, and renewed the alterca- 
tions which Cicero had deplored irf Italy. It is probable that 
war might have broken out between them, had not the prepara- 
tions of the Triumvirs waked them from their dream of security. 
It was as he was passing over into Europe, that Brutus, who 
continued his studious habits amid all disquietudes, and limited 
his time of sleep to a period too small for the requirements of 
health, was dispirited by the vision which Shakspere, after 
Plutarch, has made famous. It was no doubt the result of a 
diseased frame, though it was universally held to be* a divine 
visitation. A^ he sat in his tent in the dead of night, he 
thought a huge and shadowy form stood by him ; and when he 
calmly asked, " What and whence art thou ?" it answered, or 
seemed to answer, " I am thine evil genius, Brutus : we shall 
meet again at Philippi." 

§ 23. Meantime Antony's lieutenants had crossed the Ionian 
Sea, and penetrated without oi^position into Thrace. The 
Republican leaders found them at Philippi, The army of 
Brutus and Cassius amounted to at least 80,000 infantry, sup- 
ported by 20,000 horse ; but they were ilL supplied with expe- 
rienced officers. For M. Valerius Messalla, a young man of 
twenty-eight, held the chief command after Brutus and Cassius ; 
and Horace, who was but three-and-twenty, the son of a Freed- 
man, and a youth of feeble constitution, was appointed a Legion- 
ary Tribune.f The forces opposed to them would have been at 
once overpowered, had not Antony himself opportunely arrived 
with the second corps of the Triumviral army. Octavian was 
detained by illness at Dyrrhachium, but he ordered himself to 
be carried on a litter to join his Legions. The army of the Tri- 
umvirs was now superior to the enemy ; but their cavalry, 
counting only 13,000, was considerably weaker than the force 
opposed to it. The Republicans Avere strongly posted upon two 
hills, with entrenchments between : the camp of Cassius upon 

* Herodotus i. 176. 

f " Quem rodunt omnes libertine patre natum, 

Nunc quia Mseeenas, tibi sum convietor, at olim 
Quod mihi pareret Legio Romana tribuno." — 1 Serm. vi. 46. 
Every one knows his allusions to the loss of his shield at Phihppi, 2 Cann. 
vii. 9. <fee. 



Chap. LXIX. BATTLES OF PHILIPPI. 7l7 

the left next the sea, that of Brutus inland on the right. The 
Triumviral army lay upon the open plain before them, in a posi- 
tion rendered unhealthy by marshes ; Antony, on the right, was 
opposed to Cassius ; Octavian, on the left, fronted Brutus. But 
they ■\verc ill supplied with provisions, and anxious for a deci- 
sive battle. The Republicans, however, kept to their entrench- 
ments, and the other party began to suffer severely from famine. 

§ 24. Determined to bring on an action, Antony began works 
for the purpose of cutting off Cassius from the sea. Cassius had 
always opposed a general action, but Brutus insisted on putting 
an end to the suspense, and his colleague yielded. The day of 
the attack was probably in October. Brutus attacked Octavian's 
army, while Cassius assaulted the working parties of Antony. 
Cassius' assault was beaten back with loss, but he succeeded in 
regaining his camp in safety. Meanwhile, Messalla, who com- 
manded the right wing of Brutus' army, had defeated the host 
of Octavian, who was still too ill to appear on the field, and the 
Republican soldiers penetrated into the Triumvir's camp. Pre- 
sently, his litter was brought in stained with blood, and the 
corpse of a young man found near it was supposed to be Octa- 
vian. But Brutus, not receiving any tidings of the movements 
of Cassius, became so anxious for his fate that he sent off a 
party of horse to make inquiries, and neglected to support the 
successful assaults of Messalla. 

Cassius, on his part, discouraged at his ill success, was unable 
to ascertain the progress of Brutus. When he saw the party of 
horse, he hastily concluded that they belonged to the enemy, 
and retired into his tent with his Freedman Pindarus. What 
passed there we know not for certain. Cassius was found dead, 
with the head severed from the body. Pindarus was never seen 
again. It was generally believed that Pindarus slew his master 
in obedience to orders ; but many thought that he had dealt a 
felon blow. The intelligence of Cassius' death was a heavy blow 
to Brutus. He forgot his own success, and pronounced the 
elegy of Cassius in the well-known words : " There lies the last 
of the Romans." The praise was ill-deserved. Except in his 
conduct of the war against the Parthians, Cassius had never 
played a worthy part. 

§ 25. After the first battle of Philippi, it would have still been 
politic in Brutus to abstain from battle. The Triumviral armies 
were in great distress, and every day increased their losses. 
ReinforcemeAts coming to their aid by sea were intercepted, — a 
proof 'of the neglect of the Republican leaders in not sooner 
bringing their fleet into action. Nor did Brutus ever hear of 
this success. He was ill fitted for the life of the camp, and after 



718 CIVIL WARS: SECOKD FJiKlOi). Book VII. 

the death of Cassius he only kept his men together by largesses 
and promises of plunder. Twenty days after the first battle he 
led them out again. Both armies faced one another. There 
was little manoeuvring. The second battle was decided by num- 
bers and force, not by skill ; and it was decided in favour of «the 
Triumvirs. Brutus retired with four Legions to a strong posi- 
tion in the rear, while the rest of his broken army sought refuge 
in the camp. Octavian remained to watch them, while Antony 
pursued the Republican Chief. Next day, Brutus endeavoured 
to rouse his men to another effort ; but they sullenly refused to 
fight ; and Brutus withdrew with a few friends into a neighbour- 
ing wood. Here he took them aside one by one, and prayed 
each to do him the last service that a Roman could render to 
his friend. All refused with horror; till at nightfall a trusty 
Greek Freedman, named Strato, held the sword, and his master 
threw himself upon it. Most of his friends followed the sad 
example. The body of Brutus was sent by Antony to his 
mother. His wife Portia, the daughter of Cato, refused all com- 
fort ; and being too closely watched to be able to slay herself by 
ordinary means, she suffocated herself by thrusting burning 
charcoal into her mouth. Messalla, with a number of other fugi- 
tives, sought safety in the island of Thasos, and soon after made 
submission to Antony. 

§ 26. The name of Brutus has, by Plutarch's beautiful narra- 
tive, sublimed by Shakspere, become a bye-word for self-devoted 
patriotism. This exalted opinion is now generally confessed to 
be unjust. Brutus was not a patriot, unless devotion to the 
party of the Senate be patriotism. Towards the Provincials he 
was a true Roman, harsh and oppressive. He was free from the 
sensuality and profligacy of his age, but for public life he was 
unfit. His habits were those of a student. His application was 
great, his memory remarkable. But he possessed little power of 
turning his acquirements to account ; and to the last he was 
rather a learned man than a man improved by learning. In 
comparison with Cassius, he was humane and generous ; but in 
all respects his character is contrasted for the worse with that 
of the great man, from whom he accepted favours, and then 
became his murderer. 




Fine Coin of Antony, executed at Antioch. 




Antony and Cleopatra. 



CHAPTER LXX. 



FROM THE BATTLE OF PHILIPPI TO THE FINAL ESTABLISHMENT 
OF IMPERIAL MONARCHY. (41 30 B.C.) 

§ 1. End of the Eepublic : Second division of the Roman World by the 
Triumvirs. § 2. Cleopatra meets Antony at Tarsus : he attends her to 
Alexandria. § 3. Difficulties of Oetavian: confiscation of lands to reward 
the veterans: Vii'gil. § 4. Fulvia wife of Antony takes advantage of 
these commotions : Perusine "War. § 5. Syria and Asia Minor overrun by 
the Parthians. § 6. Antony with Sext. Pompeius invades Italy inter 
vention of the soldiery ! Peace of Brimdusiiun : Third division of the 
Roman World. § 1. Sext. Pompeius acknowledged by the Tidumvirg. 
§ 8. P. Ventidius Bassus ; his victories over the Parthians. § 9. Sext, 
Pompeius harasses Italy : Octavius in vain attacks him • two years' prepa- 
rations by Agrippa to crush him. § 10. Misfortunes of Oetavian by sea: 
defeat of Sextus by Agrippa: Sextus seeks refuge at Lesbos. § 11. Lepi- 
dus ceases to be Triumvir. § 12. Oetavian and Antony meet at Taren- 
tum: renewal of their power for Five Years. § 13. Antony surrenders 
himself to Cleopatra. §14. Conduct of Oetavian. §15. Antony's WiH 
published: iudignation at Rome. §16. Declaration of War. §17. Oe- 
tavian passes over to Epirus : Position of Antony's forces. §18. Battle 
ofActium. §19. Oetavian returns to Italy. §20. Antony and Cleopa- 
tra quarrel. § 21. Oetavian in Egypt : deaths of Antony and Cleopatra. 
§ 22. Triumphs and Imperial Power of Oetavian. 

§ 1. The Battle of Philippi was in reality tBe closing scene of 
the Republican drama. But the rivalship of the Triumvirs pro- 
longed for several years the divided state of the Roman World ; 
and it was not till after the crowning victory of Actium that the 
Imperial Government was established in its unity. We shall. 



720 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VIL 

therefore, here add a rapid narrative of the events which led to 
that consummation. 

The hopeless state of the Eepublican or rather the Senatorial 
party, was such, that almost all hastened to make submission to 
the conquerors : those whose sturdy spirit still disdained sub- 
mission resorted to Sext. Pompeius in Sicily. Octavian, still 
suffering from ill health, was anxious to return to Italy; but 
before he parted from Antony, they agreed to a Second Distri- 
bution of the Provinces of the Empire. Antony was to have 
the Eastern world; Octavian the Western Provinces. To Le- 
pidus, who was not consulted in this second division, Africa alone 
was left. Sext. Pompeius remained in possession of Sicily. 

§ 2. Antony at once proceeded to make a tour through 
Western Asia, in order to exact money from its unfortunate 
People. About midsummer (41 b.c.) he arrived at Tarsus, 
and here he received a visit which determined the future 
course of his life and influenced Roman History for the next 
ten years. 

Antony had visited Alexandria fourteen years before, and had 
been smitten by the charms of Cleopatra, then a girl of fifteen. 
She became Caesar's paramour, and from the time of the Dic- 
tator's death Antony had never seen her. She now came to 
meet him in Cilicia. The galley which carried her up the 
Cydnus was of more than Oriental gorgeousness : the sails of 
purple ; oars of silver, moving to the sound of music ; the raised 
poop burnished with gold. There she lay upon a splendid couch, 
shaded by a spangled canopy; her attire was that of Venus; 
around her flitted attendant Cupids and Graces. At the news 
of her approach to Tarsus, the Triumvir found his tribunal 
deserted by the people. She invited him to her ship, and he 
complied. From that moment he was her slave. He accom- 
panied her to Alexandria, exchanged the Roman garb for the 
Grseco-Egyptian costume of the court, and lent his power to the 
Queen to execute all her caprices. 

§ 3. Meanwhile, Octavian was not without his difflculties. He 
was so ill at Brundusium that his death was reported at Rome. 
The veterans, eager for their promised rewards, were on the eve 
of mutiny. In a short time Octavian was sufficiently recovered 
to show himself. But he could find no other means of satisfying 
the greedy soldiery than by a confiscation of lands more sweeping 
than that which followed the Proscription of Sylla. The towns 
of Cisalpine Gaul were accused of favouring Dec. Brutus, and 
saw nearly all their lands handed over to new possessors. The 
young poet, Virgil, lost his little patrimony, but was reinstated 
at the instance of PoUio and Msecenas, and showed his gratitude 



Chap. LXX. REVERSES OF ANTONY. 721 

in his first Eclogue. Other parts of Italy also suftered, — Apulia, 
for example, as we learn from Horace's friend Ofellus, who be- 
came the tenant of the estate which had formerly been his own.* 
§ 4. But these violent measures deferred rather than obviated 
the difticulty. The expulsion of so many persons threw thou- 
sands loose upon society, ripe for any crime. Many of the vete- 
rans W'Cre ready to join any new leader who promised them booty. 
Such a leader Avas at hand. 

Fulvia, wife of Antony, was a woman of fierce passions and 
ambitious spirit. She had not been invited to follow her hus- 
band to the East. She saw that in his absence Imperial power 
would fall into the hands of Octavian. Lucius, brother of Mark 
Antony, was Consul for the year, and at her instigation he raised 
his standard at Prseneste. But L. Antonius knew not how to 
use his strength ; and young Agrippa, to whom Octavian en- 
trusted the command, obliged Antonius and Fulvia to retire 
northwards and shut themselves up in Perusia. Their store of 
provisions Avas so small that it sufficed only for the soldiery. 
Early in the next year Perusia surrendered, on condition that 
the lives of the leaders should be spared. The town w^as sacked ; 
the conduct of L. Antonius alienated all Italy from his brother. 

§ 5. While his wife, his brother, and his friends were quitting 
Italy in confusion, the arms of Antony suffered a still heavier 
blow in the Eastern Provinces which were under his special 
government. After the battle of Philippi, Q. Labienus, son of 
Caesar's old lieutenant Titus, sought refuge at the court of 
Orodes, king of Parthia. Encouraged by the proffered aid of a 
Roman officer, Pacorus the King's son led a formidable army 
into Syria. Antony's lieutenant was entirely routed ; and while 
Pacorus with one army poured into Palestine and Phoenicia, Q. 
Labienus with another broke into Cilicia. " Here he found no 
opposition ; and, overrunning all Asia Minor even to the Ionian 
Sea, he assumed the name of Parthicus, as if he had been a 
Eoman conqueror of the people whom he served. 

§ 6. These complicated disasters roused Antony from his 
lethargy. He sailed to Tyre, intending to take the field against 
the Parthians; but the season was too far advanced, and he 
therefore crossed the JEgean to Athfens, where he found Fulvia 
and his brother, accompanied by Pollio, Plancus, and others, all 
discontented with Octavian's government. Octavian was absent 
in Ganl, and their representation of the state of Italy encou- 
raged him to make another attempt. Late in the year (41 b.c.) 
Antony formed a league with Sext. Pompeius ; and while that 
chief blockaded Thurii and Consentia, Antony assailed Brundu- 
* Horat. 2 Serm. ii. 133. 
31 



Y22 CIVIL WARS ; SECOND PERIOD. Book VII 

sium. Agrippa was preparing to meet ttis new combination ; 
and a fresh Civil War was imminent. But the soldiery was 
weary of war : both armies compelled their leaders to make 
pacific overtures, and the new year was ushered in by a general 
peace, which was rendered easier by the death of Fulvia. An- 
tony and Octavian renewed their professions of amity, and 
entered Rome together in joint Ovation to celebrate the resto- 
ration of Peace. They now made a third division of the Pro- 
vinces, by which Scodra (Scutari) in Illyricum was fixed as the 
boundary of the West and East. Lepidus was still left in pos- 
session of Africa. It was further agreed that Octavian was to 
drive Sext. Pompeius, lately the ally of Antony, out of Sicily ; 
while Antony renewed his pledges to recover the standards of 
Crassus from the Parthians. The new compact was sealed by 
the marriage of Antony with Octavia, his colleague's sister, a 
virtuous and beautiful lady, worthy of a better consort. These 
auspicious events were celebrated by the lofty verse of Virgil's 
Fourth Eclogue, styled " the PoUio."* 

§ 7. Sext. Pompeius had reason to complain. By the Peace 
of Brundusium he was abandoned by his late friend to Octavian. 
He was not a man to brook ungenerous treatment. Of late 
years his possession of Sicily had given him command of the 
Roman corn-market. During the Avinter which followed the 
Peace of Brundusium (40-39 B.C.), Sextus blockaded Italy so 
closely that Rome was threatened with a positive dearth. , Riots 
arose; the Triumvirs were pelted with stones in the Forum: 
and they deemed it prudent to temporise by inviting Pompey to 
enter their League. He met them at Misenum, and the two 
Chiefs went on board his ship to settle the terms of alliance. 
It is said that one of his chief oflicers, a Greek named Menas or 
Menodorus, suggested to him the expediency of putting to sea 
with the great prize, and then making his own terms. Sextus 
rejected the advice with the characteristic words : " You should 
have done it without asking me." It was agreed that Sicily, 
Sardinia, and Corsica should be given up to his absolute rule, 
and that Achaia should be added to his portion; so that the 
Roman world was now partitioned among four, — Octavian, An- 
tony, Lepidus, and Sext. Pompeius. On their return the Trium- 
virs were received with vociferous applause. 

* C. Asinius PoUio was Consul in the year 40 b.c. It was he who had 
introduced the young poet to Mseeenas. the child who was to restore the 
golden age — " Cara Deum soboles, magni Jovis inerementum " — ^must have 
been the expected progeny either of Antony and Octavia, or of Octavian 
himself who about the same time celebrated his nuptials with Scribonia, the 
sister-in-laAV of Sext. Pompey. 



Chap. LXX. WAR WITH SEXT. POMPEIUS. 723 

§ 8. Before winter, Antony sailed for Athens in company with 
Octavia, who for the time seems to have banished Cleopatra 
from his thoug-hts. But he disgusted all true Romans by 
assuming the attributes of Grecian Gods, and indulging in 
Grecian orgies. 

He found the state of things in the East greatly changed since 
his departure. Ho had commissioned P. Ventidius Bassus, an 
officer who had followed Fulvia from Italy, to hold the Parthians 
in check till his return. Ventidius was son of a Picenian Noble- 
man of Asculum, who had been brought to Rome as a captive 
in the Social War. In his youth he had been a contractor to 
supply mules for the use of the Roman Commissariat. But in 
the Civil Wars which followed, men of military talent easily rose 
to command ; and such was the lot of Ventidius. While Antony 
was absent in Italy, he drove Q. Labienus into the defiles of 
Taurus, and here that adventurer was defeated and slain. The 
conqueror then marched rapidly into Syria, and forced P^corus 
also to withdraw to the Eastern bank of the Euphrates. 

In the following year (38 b. c.) he repelled a fresh invasion of 
the Parthians, and defeated them in three battles. In the last 
of these engagements Pacorus himself was slain on the fifteenth 
anniversary of the death of Crassus. Antony found Ventidius 
laying siege to Samosata, and displaced him, only to abandon the 
siege, and return to Athens. Ventidius repaired to Rome, where 
he was honoured with a well-deserved triumph. He had left it 
as a mule-jobber : he returned with the laurel round his brows. 
He was the first, aiid almost the last, Roman General who could 
claim such a distinction for victory over the Parthians. 

§ 9. The alliance with Sext. Pompeius was not intended to 
last, and it did not last. Antony refused to put him in posses- 
sion of Achaia ; and to avenge himself for this breach of faith 
Pompeius again began to intercept the Italian corn-fleets. Fresh 
discontent appeared at Rome ; and Octavian equipped a second 
fleet to sail against the naval chief; but after two battles of 
doubtful result, the fleet was destroyed by a storm, and Sextus 
was again left in undisputed mastery of the sea. Octavian, 
however, was never daunted by reverses, and he gave his 
favourite Agrippa full powers to conduct the war against Pom- 
peius. This able commander set about his work with that reso- 
lution that marked a man determined not to fail. As a harbour 
for his fleet, he executed a plan of the great Caesar, — namely, to 
make a good and secure harbour on the coast of Latium, which 
then, as now, off"ered no shelter to ships. For this purpose he cut 
a passage through the narrow necks of land which separated 
Lake Lucrinus from the sea, and Lake Avernus from Lake 



724 CIVIL WARS : SECOND PERIOD. Book YII. 

Lucrinus, and faced the outer barrier with, stone. This was the 
famous Julian Port.* In the whole of the two years 38 and 
3*7 B.C., Agrippa was occupied in this work and in preparing a 
sufficient force of ships. Every dockyard in Italy was called 
into requisition. , A large body of slaves were set free that they 
might be trained to serve as rowers. 

§ 10. On the 1st of July, 36 B.C., the fleet put to sea. Octa- 
vian himself, with one division, purposed to attack the Northern 
coast of Sicily, while a second squadron was assembled at 
Tarentum for the purpose of assailing the Eastern side. Lepidus, 
with a third fleet from Africa, was to assault Lilybaeum. But the 
winds were again adverse ; and, though Lepidus effected a land- 
ing on the southern coast, Octavian's two fleets were driven back 
to Italy with great damage. But the injured ships were refitted, 
and Agrippa was sent westward towards Panormus, while Octa- 
vian himself kept guard near Messana. Off" Mylse, a place famous 
for having witnessed the first naval victory of the Romans, 
Agrippa encountered the fleet of Sext. Pompeius ; but Sextus, 
with the larger portion of his ships, gave Agrippa the slip, and 
sailing eastward fell suddenly upon Octavian's squadron oS 
Tauromenium. A desperate conflict followed, which ended in 
the complete triumph of Sextus, and Octavian escaped to Italy 
with a few ships only. But Agrippa was soon upon the traces 
of the enemy. On the 3rd of September Sextus was obliged 
once more to accept battle near the straits of Messana, and 
suff"ered an irretrievable defeat. His troops on land were attacked 
and dispersed by an army which had been landed on the eastern 
coast by the indefatigable Octavian ; and Sextus sailed off" to 
Lesbos, where he had found refuge as a boy during the cam- 
paign of Pharsalia, to seek protection from the jealousy of 
Antony. 

§ 11. Lepidus had assisted in the campaign; but after the 
departure of Sextus he openly declared himself independent of 
his brother Triumvirs. Octavian, with prompt and prudent 
boldness, entered the camp of Lepidus in person Avith a few 
attendants. The soldiers deserted in crowds, and in a few hours 
Lepidus was fain to sue for pardon, where he had hoped to rule. 
He was treated with contemptuous indifference. Africa was 
taken from him ; but he was allowed to live and die at Rome in 
quiet enjoyment of the Chief Pontificate. 

§ 12. It was fortunate for Octavian that during this campaign 
Antony was on friendly terms Avith him. In 37 e.g. the ruler of 

* Quid memorem portus Luerinoque addita claustra, 
Julia qua ponto longe sonat unda refuse, 
Tyrrhenusque fretis immittitur aestus Averois? — Virg. Georg. ii. 161. 



Chap. LXX. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 725 

the East again visited Italy, and a meeting between the two 
Chiefs Avas arranged at Tareutum, The five years for which the 
Triumvirs were originally appointed were now fast expiring ; 
and it was settled that their authority should be renewed by the 
subservient Senate and People for a second period of the same 
duration. They parted good friends ; and Octavian undertook 
his campaign against Sext. Pompeius without fear from Antony. 
This was proved by the fate of the fugitive. From Lesbos 
Sextus passed over to Asia, Avhere he was taken prisoner by 
Antony's lieutenants, and put to death. 

§ 13. Hitherto Octavia had retained her influence over Antony. 
But presently after his last interview Avith her brother, the fickle 
Triumvir abruptly quitted a wife who was too good for him, and 
returned to the fascinating presence of the Egyptian Queen, 
whom he had not seen for three years. From this time forth 
he made no attempt to break the silken chain of her enchant- 
ments. During the next summer, indeed, he attempted a new 
Parthian campaign. But his advance was made, like that of 
Crassus, with reckless indifference to the safety of his troops. 
Provisions failed; disease broke out; and after great sufi"ermg 
he was forced to seek safety by a precipitate retreat into the 
Armenian mountains. In the next year he contented himself 
with a campaign in Armenia, to punish the King of that country 
for alleged treachery in the last campaign. The King fell into 
his hands ; and with this trophy Antony returned to Alexandria, 
where the Eomans were disgusted to see the streets of a Grseco- 
Egyptian town honoured by a mimicry of a Roman Triumph. 
For the next three years he surrendered himself absolutely to 
the will of the enchantress. To this period belong those tales of 
luxurious indulgence which are known to every reader. The 
brave soldier, who in the perils of war could shake off all luxuri- 
ous habits, and could rival the commonest man in the cheerful- 
ness with which he underwent every hardship, was seen no more. 
He sunk into an indolent voluptuary, pleased by childish amuse- 
ments. At one time he would lounge in a boat at a fishing- 
party, and laugh when he drew up pieces of salt-fish, which by 
the queen's order had been attached to his hook by divers. At 
another time she wagered that she would consume ten million 
sesterces at one meal, and won her wager by dissolving in vine- 
gar a pearl of unknown value. While Cleopatra bore the charac- 
ter of the goddess Isis, her lover appeared as Osiris. Her head 
was placed conjointly with his own on the coins which he issued 
as a Roman Magistrate. He disposed of the kingdoms and prin- 
cipalities of the East by his sole word. By his iefluence Herod, 
son of Antipater, the Idumsean minister of Hyrcanus, the late 



726 CIVIL "WARS : SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

sovereign of Judaea, was made King to the exclusion of tte right- 
ful heir. Polemo, his own son by Cleopatra, was invested with 
the sceptre of Armenia. Encouraged by the absolute submission 
of her lover, Cleopatra fixed her eye upon the Capitol, and 
dreamed of winning by means of Antony that Imperial crown 
which she had vainly sought from Csesar. 

§ 14. While Antony was engaged in voluptuous dalliance, 
Octavian was resolutely pursuing the work of consolidating his 
power in the West. His patience, his industry, his attention to 
business, his aff'ability, were winning golden opinions and rapidly 
obliterating all memory of the bloody work by which he had 
risen to power. He had won little glory in war ; but so long 
as the corn-fleets arrived daily from Sicily and Africa, the popu- 
lace cared little whether the victory had been won by Octavian 
or by his generals. In Agrippa he possessed a consummate 
captain, in Maecenas a wise and temperate minister. It is much 
to his credit that he never showed any jealousy of the men to 
whom he owed so much. He flattered the People with the hope 
that he would, when Antony had fulfilled his mission of recover- 
ing the standards of Crassus, engage him to join in putting an 
end to their sovereign power and restoring constitutional liberty. 
In point of fidelity to his marriage-vows Octavian was little 
better than Antony. He renounced his marriage with Clodia, 
the daughter of Fulvia, when her mother attempted to raise 
Italy against him. He divorced Scribonia, when it no longer 
suited him to court the favour of her kinsman. To replace this 
second wife, he forcibly took away Livia from her husband, Ti. 
Claudius Nero, though she. was at that time pregnant of her 
second son. But in this and other less pardonable immoralities 
there was nothing to shock the feelings of Romans. 

But Octavian never suftered pleasure to divert him from busi- 
ness. If he could not be a successful general, he resolved, at 
least to show that he could be a hardy soldier. While Antony 
in his Egyptian palace was neglecting the Parthian war, his rival 
led his Legions in more than one dangerous campaign against 
the barbarous Dalmatians and Pannonians, \Vho had been for 
some time infesting the Province of lUyricum. In the year 
33 B.C. he announced that the limits of the Empire had been 
extended northwards to the banks of the Save. 

§ 15. Octavian now began to feel that any appearance of 
friendship with Antony was a source of weakness rather than of 
strength at Rome. Misunderstandings had already broken out. 
Antony complained that Octavian had given him no share in the 
Provinces wrested from Sext. Pompeius and Lepidus. Octavian 
retorted by accusing his colleague of appropriating Egypt and 



Chat. LXX. BATTLE OF ACTIUM. 727 

Armenia, fyid of increasing Cleopatra's power at the expense of 
the Roman Empire. Popuhir indignation rose to its height 
when Plancus and Titius, who had been admitted to Antony's 
contideuce, passed over to Octavian, and disclosed the contents 
of their master's Will. In that document Antony ordered that 
his body should be buried at Alexandria, in the mausoleum of 
Cleopatra. Men began to fancy that Cleopatra had already 
planted her throne upon the Capitol. These suspicions were 
sedulously encouraged by Octavian. 

§ 16. Before the close of 32 b.c, Octavian, by the authority 
of the Senate, declared war nominally against Cleopatra. Antony, 
roused from his sleep by reports from Eome, passed over to 
Athens, issuing orders everywhere to levy men and collect ships 
for the impending struggle. At Athens he received news of the 
declaration of war, and replied by divorcing Octavia. His Fleet 
Avas ordered to assemble at Corcyra; and his Legions in the 
early spring prepared to pour into Epirus. He established his 
head-quarters at Patrse on the Corinthian Gulf. 

§ 17. But Antony, though his fleet was superior to that of 
Octavian, allowed Agrippa to sweep the Ionian sea, and to take 
possession of Methone, in Messenia, as a station for a flying 
squadron to intercept Antony's communications with the East, 
nay even to occupy Corcyra, which had been destined for his 
own place of rendezvous. Antony's fleet now anchored in the 
waters of the Ambracian Gulf, while his legions encamped on a 
spot of land, which forms the northern horn of that spacious 
inlet. But the place chosen for the camp was unhealthy; and 
in the heats of early summer his army suffered greatly from dis- 
ease. Agrippa lay close at hand watching his opportunity. In 
the course of the spring Octavian joined him in person. 

§ 18. Early in the season, Antony had repaired from Patrse to 
his army, so as to be ready either to cross over into Italy or to 
meet the enemy if they attempted to land in Epirus. At first 
he showed something of his old military spirit, and the soldiers, 
who always loved his military frankness, warmed into enthusi- 
asm ; but his chief oflicers, won by OctaA^an or disgusted by the 
influence of Cleopatra, deserted him in such numbers, that he 
kncAV not whom to trust, and gave up all thoughts of maintain- 
ing the contest with energy. Urged by Cleopatra, he resolved 
to carry oft' his fleet and abandon the army. All preparations 
Avere made in secret, and the great fleet put to sea on the 28th 
of August. For the four following days there was a strong gale 
from the south. Neither could Antony escape, nor could Octa- 
vian put to sea against him from Corcyra. On the 2nd of Sep- 
tember, however, the wind fell, and OctaAaan's light vessels, by 



728 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

using their oars, easily came up Avith the unwieldy galleys of the 
Eastern Fleet. A battle was now inevitable. 

Antony's ships were like impregnable fortresses to the assault 
of the slight vessels of Octavian •* and, though they lay nearly 
motionless in the calm sea, little impression was made upon 
them. But ahout noon a breeze sprung up from the west ; and 
Cleopatra, followed by sixty Egyptian ships, made sail in a 
southerly direction. Antony immediately sprang from his ship 
of war into a light galley and followed. Deserted by their com- 
mander, the captains of Antony's ships continued to resist 
desperately ; nor was it till the greater part of them were set,, on 
fire, that the contest was decided. Before evening closed, the 
Avhole fleet was destroyed ; most of the men and all the treasure 
on board, perished. A few days after, when the shameful flight 
of Antony was made known to his army, all his Legions went 
over to the conqueror. 

§ 19. It was not for eleven months after the Battle of Actium 
that Octavian entered the open gates of Alexandria. He had 
been employed in the interval in founding the City of Nicopolis 
to celebrate his victory on the northern horn of the Ambracian 
Gulf, in rewarding his soldiers, and settling the affairs of the 
Provinces of the East. In the winter he returned to Italy, and 
it was midsummer, 30 b.c, before he arrived in Egypt. 

§ 20. When Antony and Cleopatra arrived of^ Alexandria they 
put a bold face upon the matter. Some time passed before the 
real state of the case was known ; but it soon became plain that 
Egypt was at the mercy of the conqueror. The Queen formed 
all kinds of Avild designs. One was to transport the ships that 
she had saved across the Isthmus of Suez and seek refuge in 
some distant land where the name of Rome was yet unknown. 
Some ships were actually drawn across, but they were destroyed 
by the Arabs, and the plan was abandoned. She now flattered 
herself, that her powers of fascination, proved so potent over 
Csesar and Antony, might subdue Octavian. Secret messages 
passed between the conqueror and the queen ; nor were Octa- 
vian's answers such as to banish hope. 

Antony, full of repentance and despair, shut himself up in 
Pharos, and there remained in gloomy isolation. . 

§ 21. In July 30 B.C. Octavian appeared before Pelusium. The 
place was surrendered without a blow. Yet, at the approach of 
the conqueror, Antony put himself at the head of a division of 

* " Ibis Liburnis inter alta navium, 

Amice, propugnacula." — Herat. Epod. i. 1. 
Mfficenas, it may be remarked, relinquished his intention of joining the fleet. 



Chap. LXX. DEATHS OF ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 729 

cavahy, and g-aincd some advantage. But on his return to 
Alexandria lie found that Cleopatra had given up all her ships ; 
and no more opposition was offered. On the 1st of August 
(Sextilis as it was then called) Octavian entered the open gates 
of Alexandria. Both Antony and Cleopatra sought to win him, 
Antony's messengers the conqueror refused to see ; but he still 
used fair words to Cleopatra. The Queen had shut herself up in 
a sort of mausoleum built to receive her body after death, which 
was not approachable by any door ; and it was given out that she 
was really dead. All the tenderness of old times revived in 
Antony's heart. He stabbed himself, and in a dying state ordered 
himself to be laid by the side of Cleopatra. The Queen touched 
by pity, ordered her expiring lover to be drawn up by cords into 
her retreat, and bathed his temples with her tears. After he had 
breathed his last, she consented to see Octavian. Her penetra- 
tion soon told her that she had nothing to hope fi'om him. She 
saw that his fair words were only intended to prevent her from 
desperate acts, and reserve her for the degradation of his Tri- 
umph. This impression was confirmed when all instruments by 
which death could be inflicted were found to have been removed 
from her apartments. But she was not to be so bafiled. She 
pretended all submission ; but when the ministers of Octavian 
came to carry her away, they found her lying dead upon her couch, 
attended by her faithful waiting-women, Iras and Charmion. 
The manner of her death was never ascertained ; popular belief 
ascribed it to the bite of an asp, which had been conveyed to her 
in a basket of fruit. 

Thus died Antony and Cleopatra. Antony was by nature a 
genial, open-hearted Roman, a good soldier, quick, resolute, and 
vigorous, but reckless aud self-indulgent, devoid alike of jiru- 
dence and of principle. The corruptions of the age, the seduc- 
tions of power, and the evil influence of Cleopatra, paralysed a 
nature capable of better things. We know him chiefly through 
the exaggerated assaults of Cicero in his Philippic, and the nar- 
ratives of writers devoted to Octavian. But after all deductions 
for partial representation, enough remains to show that Antony 
had all the faults of Csesar, with little of his redeeming greatness. 

Cleopatra was an extraordinary person. At her death she was 
but thirty-eight years of age. Her power rested not so much on 
actual beauty as on her fascinating manners and her extreme 
readiness of wit. In her follies there was a certain magnificence, 
which excites even a dull imagination. We may estimate the 
real power of her mental qualities by observing the impression 
her character made upon the Roman Poets of the time. No 
meditated praises could have borne such testimony to her great- 

31* 



•YSO 



CIVIL WARS: SECOIfD PERIOD. 



Book VII. 



ness as the lofty strain in which Horace celebrates her fall, and 
congratulates the Roman world on its escape from the ruin which 
she was threatening to the Capitol.* 

§ 22. Octavian dated the years of his Imperial Monarchy from 
the day of the Battle of Actium. But it was not till two years 
after (the summer of 29 B.C.) that he established himself in 
Rome as Ruler of the Roman World. Then he celebrated three 
magnificent Triumphs, after the example of his uncle the great 
Dictator, for his victories in Dalmatia, at Actium, and in Egypt.f 
At the same time the Temple of Janus was closed (notwithstand- 
ing that border wars still continued in Gaul and Spain) for the 
first time since the year 235 b.c. All men drew breath more 
a-eely, and all except the soldiery looked forward to a time of 
tranquillity. Liberty and independence were forgotten words. 
After the terrible disorders of the last century, the general cry 
was for quiet at any price. Octavian was a person admirably 
fitted to fulfil these aspirations. His uncle Julius was too fond 
of active exertion to play such a part well. Octavian never 
shone in war, while his vigilant and patient mind was well fitted 
for the discharge of business. He avoided shocking popular 
feeling by assuming any title 'savouring of royalty ; but he 
enjoyed by universal consent an authority more than regal. 

* Carm. xxxviL 

f "" At C?esar, trvplici invectus Romana triumplio, 

Moenia, Dis Italis votum immortale sacrabat." — Virg. Aen. viii. 714, 




Figure Head of Roman Galley, dredged up near Actium. 




Octavian. 



CHAPTER LXXI. 



STATE OF THE EMPIKE : LITERATURE, ART, MANNERS, AND 
RELIGIOUS FEELING. 

§ 1. Acquiescence of the Roman "World in Despotic rule. § 2. Circum- 
stances that favoured Octavian. § 3. Disguise thrown over his power by 
Octavian. § 4. Exhausted condition of Italy. § 5. The Provinces bene- 
fited by the establishment of a central Despotism. § 6. Its deadening 
eflfects upon the mind of Rome : but the first effects of tranquillity pro- 
duced a ne-w Literature. § 1. Review of Roman Literature from the 
begmning of the Civil Wars : Oratory : Education. § 8. Historical 
Memoirs and Histories. § 9. Grammatical and Philological "Writers. 
§ 10. Cicero. § 11. The Drama. § 12. Mimes: their chief authors, Dec. 
Laberius and Publ. Syrus. § 13. Other kinds of poetry : Didactic Poetry : 
Lucretius. § 14. CatuUus and Calvus. § 15. Epic Poetry: various. 
§ 16. Virgil. § IT. Horace. § 18. Elegiac Poets. § 19. Art. § 20. Public 
Buildings. § 21. Public "Works in the Provinces. § 22. Unsettled state of 
sentiment and opinion : Stoic and Epicurean Philosophy. § 23. Super- 
stitious practices and sentiments. § 24. Preparation of the public mind 
for a purer Faith. 

§ 1. We have now traced the progress and decline of the Roman 
Constitution through its several stages. We have seen it pass 
from a Monarchy into a Patrician Oligarchy, from a Patrician 
Oligarchy into a limited Republic, from a limited Republic into 
an Oligarchy of Wealth ; and now, after a century of Civil War, 



732 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII 

in which the State swayed from one extreme to the other, we 
close with the contemplation of an absolute Despotism. Every 
page of the latter portion of our narrative shows how inevitably 
events were tending to this issue. The Roman world had long 
been preparing for it. At no time had such authority been 
altogether alien from the mind of the People of Rome. Dictator- 
ships were frequent in their earlier history. In later times the 
Consuls were, by the will of the Senate, raised to Dictatorial 
power to meet emergencies, military or civil. The despotic 
commands conferred upon Sylla and Pompey, the powers seized 
first by Caesar, and after him by the Triumvirate, were all of the 
same form as the authority conferred upon Octavian ; — that is, 
all were, in form at least, temporary and provisional. The dis- 
orders of the State required the intervention of -one or more 
persons endued with absolute authority. And whether power 
was vested in a Dictator, such as Sylla and Csesar; in a sole 
Consul, such as Pompey ; in a Commission of Three, such as the 
Triumvirate of Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus ; or in an Impe- 
rator, such as Octavian alone, the constitutional principle was 
the same. These despotic powers were in every case, except in 
the cases of Sylla and Caesar, granted for a definite term : even 
Caesar's first Dictatorships were conferred for limited periods. 
The Triumvirate was renewed at intervals of five years, the 
imperial rule of Octavian at intervals of ten. In theory these 
powers were conferred exceptionally, for a temporary purpose ; 
and when the purpose was served, the exception was to yield to 
the rule. Even in the reign of Octavian there were some persons 
credulous enough to expect a restoration of the Republic. It 
belongs to the History of the Empire to examine in detail the 
arts of government, by which a provisional and temporary power 
was, by the adroitness of the new ruler, converted into a despotic 
Monarchy. Here a few brief notes must be sufficient. 

From the time that all Italians Avere made Citizens of Rome, 
it became plain that some great alteration must be made in 
the Constitution. Marius seems first to have entertained 
thoughts of a perpetual Consulship ; but the confidence reposed 
in him as a leader in Avar neither could nor did avail to gain him 
a similar confidence in peace. Circumstances rather than set 
purpose placed Sylla at the head of the State ; and he endea- 
voured to solve the political problem of the day by placing all 
authority in the hands of the Senatorial Oligarchy. His death 
Avas followed by an explosion ; and the remainder of the History 
of the Republic is merely a personal conflict for supreme power. 
Every man Avas for himself. Pompey never assumed the cha- 
racter of champion of the Senate because he was jealous of Csesar. 



CuAP. LXXI. CONDUCT OF OCTAVIAN. 733 

Cnesar, from the first, had a, clear determination to establish him- 
self as the ruler of the futm'e fortunes of Rome, and he suc- 
ceeded. But he disclosed his wish to assume sovereign power, 
and he fell by the hands of men who had accepted his favours, but 
in heart were jealous of his greatness, — men who professed to be 
Republicans, but who were in" fact the agents of the Senatorial 
Oligarchy. Then, came Antony and the Triumvirate, who pre- 
pared the way for acquiescence in the sole dominion of Octavian. 

§ 3. Octavian's adroitness has often been commended. But he 
had many examples to warn and to guide him. Above all, the pre- 
cedent of his uncle, the Great Dictator, proved that the Romans 
were not prepared to accept even order and good government at 
the price of Royalty ; and he dexterously avoided the danger. The 
cruelties of the Triumviral Proscription he was able to throw 
chiefly upon Antony. But these very cruelties stood him in 
stead ; for they induced men to estimate at more than its real 
Avorth the clemency which distinguished his sole government. 
He avoided jealousy by assuming a power professedly only tem- 
porary. The title by which he liked to be known was that of 
Prince ; for he revived in his own person the title Princeps 
Senatus, which had slept since the death of Catulus.* But in 
fact he absorbed all the powers of the State. As Imperator he 
exercised absolute control over the lives of all Roman Citizens 
not within the limits of the City. As Pontifex Maximus, an 
oflice for which he waited patiently till the death of Lepidus, he 
controlled the religion of the State. He assumed the Censorial 
power without a colleague to impede his action: thus he was 
able to revise at pleasure the Register of the Citizens and the 
List of the Senate, promoting or degrading whom he pleased. 
He appropriated aifeo the Tribunician power; — and thus the 
Popular Assembly was by a side-blow deprived of vitality ; for 
without its Tribunes it was naught.f Consuls wxre still elected 
to give name to the year ; and the Assembly of the Centuries 
still met for the empty purpose of electing those whom the 
Prince named. Often, indeed, several pairs were elected for one 
year, after a practice begun by the Great Dictator. 

§ 4. The name of Italy now at length assumed the significance 
which it still bears ; for all free inhabitants of Cisalpine Gaul 
obtained the rights of Roman citizens. But little was done to 
repair -the losses and decays of which we^have spoken in former 
chapters. The military Colonies planted by Sylla and Octavian, 

* " Non Regno .... neque Dietatura, sed Principis nomine constitutam 
Rempublieam." — Tacit. Annal. i. 9. 

f Clmpt. XXXV. § 1 2. He was not styled Censor or Tribune, but was said 
to be invested Censorid potestate, Trihunicid potestate. 



,g2;34 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

had lowered its condition even beyond its former misery. 
Ancient and respectable citizens made way for reckless and 
profligate soldiery, — such as the Centurion wbo would have 
slain the Poet Virgil. Our pity for the ejected inhabitants is 
somewhat lessened by the thought that all the civilised world 
was open to them, for all the world was Koman. Gaul, and 
Spain, and Sicily, and the Provinces of the East, depopulated by 
long wars, gratefully received families of Italian citizens, who 
brought them their habits of civilised life, industry, and such 
. property as they had saved from the ruin of their homes. Great 
as was the injustice of expelling these persons, the actual loss 
and suffering, after the pain of leaving home was over, must 
have been incalculably less than we, in the present condition of 
Europe, are apt to imagine. After the settlement of these 
Colonies, it is probable that what could be done for the welfare 
of Italy was done by Augustus and his able Ministers, Agrippa 
and Maecenas. But the evils were too great and too recent to 
admit of palliation ; and Italy probably never recovered from the 
effects of the Roman Wars of Conquest, till she received a new 
population from the North. 

§ 5. The Provinces were gainers by the transference of power 
from the Senate to a single man. The most important Provinces 
were governed by Deputies appointed by the Prince himself;* 
the rest were left to the rule of Senatorial Proconsuls. The 
condition of the Imperial Provinces was preferred ; for the taxes 
exacted were lighter, and the government under severer control. 
Instances occur of Senatorial Provinces requesting as a favour to 
be transferred to the rule of the Emperor.f But even the Sena- 
torial Government was more equitable than of old. The salaries 
of the Proconsuls were fixed ; greedy men*.were no longer left to 
pay themselves by extortion ; and the Governors held power for 
several years, so that they had more temptation to win the good 
opinion of their subjects. The examples of Pilate and Felix show, 
indeed, that glaring injustice was still perpetrated ; but these 
very cases show that the Governors stood in awe of those whom 
they governed, — for in both cases the iniquity was committed 
through fear of the Jews, whom these men had mis-governed, 
and whose accusations they feared. It may be added that both 
these men were severely punished for their misgovernment. 

§ 6. The world, therefore, on the whole, was a gainer by 
the substitution of the Imperial rule for the Constitution, 
falsely named Republican. For nearly two centuries the go- 
vernment was, with two intervals, administered by rulers of 

* Legati or Prsefecti Csesaris. 

f As Achaia and Macedonia in the time of Tiberius. Tacit. Annal. i. '76. 



Chap. LXXI. LITERATURE: ORATORY -735 

great abilities and great energy ; and though, no doubt, there 
was enough of oppression and to spare, yet there was much less 
than had been common in the times of Senatorial dominion, . 

But if the Provinces — that is, the Empire at large — continued 
to be content with a Central Despotism, in comparison with the 
old Senatorial rule of "every man for himself," this was not the 
case at Rome. The educated classes at least, and the Senatorial 
Nobility, soon began to regret even the turbulent days of Marius 
and Ponipey. The practice of Oratory, in which Romans excelled 
and took chief delight, was confined to mere forensic pleadings, 
and lost all that excitement which attached to it when an orator 
could sway the will of the Senate, and calm or rouse the seething 
passions of the Forum. We cannot wonder at Cicero, notwith- 
standing his hatred for commotion, throwing himself into the 
conflict against Antony with the fervid energy which is revealed 
in the Philippics. He felt that this was the last change of sup- 
porting the old freedom of the Forum, — which, with all its 
turbulence, he loved, partly as the scene of his own glories, partly 
as a barrier against the crushing force of military despotism. 
And though the slaughter of the Proscription and of the Civil 
Wars removed many of the leading Senators, men of independent 
will revolted against the deadening weight of despotic govern- 
ment, as is revealed in the pages of Tacitus. For a time, how- 
ever, there was a general disposition, even at Rome, to welcome 
the tranquillity ensured by the rule of Octavian, and nothing can 
more strongly show the security that men experienced, even 
before the battle of Actium, than the sudden burst with which 
Literature and the polite Arts rose from their slumbers. 

§ 7. This leads us to give a brief account of the state of 
Litei'ature at Rome, since we last took notice of the subject, at 
the beginning of the Civil Wars. 

Since that epoch literary pursuits had languished, — the 
natural effect of political excitement and perilous times. Ora- 
tory indeed had flourished, as every page of our History indi- 
cates ; and Oratory may be called the popular literature of Rome, 
as truly as Journalism may be called the popular literature of 
England. Cicero, a master of his art both in theory and" prac- 
tice, has loft us an account of a host of Orators whom he thought 
worthy of being placed in a national catalogue. Of the Gracchi, 
of Antonius, of Crassus, of Sulpicius, we have spoken. After 
their time Cotta was the chief favourite, and then Hortensius 
rose to be "King of the Courts." He was what we may call an 
Advocate by profession, taking little part in politics till he had 
made a large fortune by the presents which at that time stood 
in the place of regular fees ; and even in the hot conflicts that 



736 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

distinguished the rise of Pompey's popularity lie took but a 
languid part. His style of speaking was what Cicero styles 
Asiatic, — that is, florid and decorated beyond Avhat even the 
liberal judgment of his critic could approve. Cicero con- 
sidered his own youthful manner to partake of this character, 
and refers to the brave speech in which he defended Sext. 
Roscius of Ameria as an example of this style. But that elabo- 
rate phraseology and copious flow of language remained with 
him to the last. It was only when his feelings were strongly 
excited, or when his time was limited, as when he defended old 
Rabirius or assailed Catiline in the Senate, that he displayed 
anything of that terrible concentration of speech with which 
Demosthenes smote his antagonists. So far as we can judge 
from the scanty remnants preserved, C. Gracchus, more than 
any other Roman, possessed this fierce earnestness. The ex- 
ample and criticism of Cicero lead to the conclusion that Roman 
Oratory generally had a tendency to be redundant, if not wordy. 
This tendency may be ascribed to the prevailing mode in which 
the young orators of the day sought to acquire skill in speaking. 
The Schools of the Rhetorical Teachers were thronged by them; 
and here they were taught to declaim fluently on any subject, 
Avithout reference to passion or feeling or earnestness of purpose. 
The Romans of a former generation endeavoured to crush 
such schools ; and it was not at Rome that the most cele- 
brated Teachers were to be found. Athens and Rhodes were 
the fashionable Universities, as we may call them, to which 
the young Romans resorted, when they had finished their 
schooling at Rome.* After learning grammar, and reading 
Latin and Greek Poets in their boyhood, they repaired to the 
more famous haunts of Grecian learning to study a little Geo- 
metry and a little Philosophy ;f but it was to ■ Rhetoric or the 
acquirement of a facile power of speaking on any given subject 
that the ambitious youth devoted their chief eff"orts. 

§ 8. Education in Greek literature led many persons in this 
period to compose Greek memoirs of the stirring scenes in 
which they had lived or acted. Examples of this kind had been 
set as early as the Second Punic War by Cincius and Fabius. 
It now became very common ; but many began to employ the 

* "We know this of the two Cieeros, of Csesar, of Horace, of Persius. The 
age at which they went seems to have been much the same as that at which 
young men in the present day go to the Universities, 
•j- Such at least Horace represents it : • 

" Adjecere bonae pauUo plus artis Athenae, — 
Scilicet ut possem curvo dignoscere rectum, 
Atque inter silvas Academi quaerere verwm" — 2. JEJpist. ii. 43. 



Chap. LXXI. HISTORICAL WORKS. 737 

vernacular language. C. Fannius Strabo, who mounted tlic 
walls of Carthage by the side of Ti. Gracchus, and his con- 
temporary L. Cajlius Antipater, wrote Latin histories famous 
in their time. Both were thought worthy of abridgment by 
Brutus. The former is commended by Sallust, the latter was 
preferred to Sallust by the Emperor Hadrian. Even Cicero 
commended Antipater as an improver of Latin composition ; 
his follower Asellio, says the Orator, returned to the meagre 
dullness of the ancient Annalists. Then came L. Cornelius 
Sisenna, who witnessed the bloody scenes of the Social and 
First Civil Wars and wrote their history. Cicero commends 
his style ; Sallust speaks with praise of his diligence, but hints at 
his subserviency to Sylla and the Senate. But the great men 
who made History at this epoch also took up the pen to write 
History. Q. Lutatius Catulus, the colleague of Marius, left an 
account of the Cimbric War. The good Rutilius Rufus employed 
his leisure in penning an historical work. Sylla composed a 
memoir of his own political life, to which Plutarch often refers ; 
but from the specimens which he gives the Dictator seems not 
to have been scrupulously impartial in his narrative. Lucullus 
composed similar memoirs. Cicero drew up a Greek notice of 
his Consulate with his own ready pen, and endeavoured to per- 
suade L. Lucceius to undertake a similar task. Even the grim 
Marius wishes to have his deeds commemorated by a worthy 
hand.* The Commentaries of Caesar have been already quoted 
as illustrating one characteristic of the great Dictator's mind. 
His pen was taken up by several of his officers, Au. Hirtius, who 
completed the narrative of the Gallic War, C. Oppius, to whom 
the memoirs of the Dictator's Wars in Egypt, Africa, and Spain 
are often attributed, L. Cornelius Balbus, and others. But the 
most remarkable prose-writer of the late Republican Era is C. 
Sallustius Crispus, familiarly known to us as Sallust. The two 
works that remain to us from the pen of this vigorous writer, 
the account of the Catilinarian Conspiracy and the Jugurthan 
War, are rather to be styled political pamphlets than histories. 
Sallust was, as we have mentioned, an ardent partisan of the 
Marian and Caesarian party. He had been expelled from the 
Senate. Dislike of the reigning oligarchy appears at every turn, 
notwithstanding the semblance of impartiality assumed by a 
man who practised the profligacy which he indignantly de- 
nounces. But Sallust's writings are valuable in a literary point 
of view, because they disclose the terse and concentrated energy 
of which the Latin language was capable, qualities little favoured 

* By L. Plotius, a rhetorician, of whom little is known, pro Archid 9. 



738 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VIL 

by tte oratorical tendencies of the day, but used with marvellous 
effect in a later age by Tacitus. 

Other writers now first endeavoured to hand down in Latin a 
History of Rome from her foundation, or from early periods of 
her existence. Such were C. Licinius Macer, Q. Claudius Quadri-^ 
garius, and Q. Valerius Antias, all born about the beginning of 
the last century before the Christian Era. The works of these 
and other Annalists were used and swallowed up by the History 
of Livy, who was born, probably at Padua, in the year 59 e.g., 
and belongs to the Imperial Era of Augustus, of which we speak 
not here. 

§ 9. Some few writers in this same period began to cultivate 
grammatical and philological studies. The founder of these pur- 
suits at Rome is reputed to be L. ^lius Stilo, the friend of Q. 
Metellus Numidicus, and his companion in exile. He was closely 
followed by Aurelius Opilius, a freedman, who attended Rutilius 
Rufus into exile, as Stilo had attended Metellus. But the man 
whose name is in this department most conspicuous is M. Teren- 
tius Varro of Reate.* He was born in 116 B.C., ten years later 
than Cicero, whose friendship he cultivated to the close of the 
great Orator's life. Varro was a laborious student, and earned 
by his successful pursuit of all kinds of knowledge a reputation 
not deserved by his public life. From the first he adhered 
to the cause of Pompey. After Pharsalia, Csesar received him 
with the same clemency that he had shown to all his foes, and 
employed him in promoting the plans which he .had formed 
of establishing a Public Library at Rome. After the death of 
Caesar he retired to the country, and confined himself to literary 
pursuits ; but this did not save him from being placed on the 
Proscription-list. He escaped, however, to be received into 
favour by Octavian, and continued his studies in grammar, phi- 
lology, and agriculture, till he reached the great age of eighty- 
eight, when he died in peace. Of his great work on the Latin 
Language, originally consisting of twenty-four Books, six remain 
to attest the industry of the man and the infantine state of phi- 
lological science at the time.f His work on Agriculture in three 
books, written when he was eighty years old, is still in our 
hands, and forms the most accurate account we possess from 
the Romans of the subject. Fragments and notices of many 

* To distinguish him from P. Varro Atacinus, a Poet from the banks of 
the Atax (Aude) in Narbonese Gaul. See Horace, 1 Serm. x. 46. 

f For instance : Ocrea, quod opponebatur ob cms : Anas, a nando • Lus~ 
cinia, quia luctuose canere existimetur : Ignis, a nascendo, quod hie nascitus 
et omne quod nascitur ignis scindit : Luna, quod lucet nocfu : Sol, quod 
solum ita lucet ut ex eo dies sit. 



Chap. LXXL CICERO — THE DRAMA. 739 

other writers on all kinds of topics liavo been handed down to 
justify the title given by the ancients to Varro — "the most 
learned of the Romans." 

§ 10. We will close this sketch of the Prose Literature of the 
last age of the Republic Avith a notice of Cicero's writings. Of 
his oratory and of his epistles something has been said in former 
pages ; and it is to these productions that we must attribute the 
great orator's place in the Commonwealth of Letters. Of his 
poems it were better to say nothing. Of his memoirs and 
historical writings little is known, unless we count the fragments 
of " The Republic " in this class. But his rhetorical and philo- 
sophical Essays each fill a goodly volume ; and these writings 
have been the themes of wann admiration for ages past. Yet it 
is to be doubted whether the praises lavished upon them are not 
chiefly due to the magic influence of the language in which they 
are expressed. The " Brutus " doubtless is extremely interest- 
ing as containing the judgment of Rome's greatest orator on all 
the speakers of his own generation and of foregoing times. The 
Dialogues on " The Orator" are yet more interesting as furnish- 
ing a record of his own professional experience. But the philo- 
sophical works of Cicero are of little philosophical value. They 
were written not so much to teach mankind as to employ his 
time at moments when he was banished from the City. Their 
highest merits consist in the lucid and graceful style, which 
seduced the great Italian Latinists at the end of the fifteenth 
■century to abjure all words and phrases which did not rest on 
Ciceronian authority, and which led Erasmus himself, who re- 
sisted this pedantry, to " spend ten years in reading Cicero." 

§ 11. The Dramatic Art fell more and more into dishonour. 
We hear, indeed, of two illustrious actors, ^sopus and Roscius, 
who where highly honoured at Rome, and died in possession of 
large fortunes. But it was from the great families that their 
honours and the means of making money came. The Theatres, 
as we have before observed, remained mere temporary buildings 
till the second Consulship of Pompey, when the first stone 
theatre at Rome was erected by one of his wealthy freedmen. 
The pieces represented were more of the nature of spectacles. 
Those in which Roscius and ^sopus acted must have been old 
plays re\aved. In this period hardly one name of a dramatic 
author occurs.* It was not in Theatres, but in Amphitheatres, 
that Rome and Roman Towns sought amusement. Not only is 
the Flavian Amphitheatre the most gorgeous of the remains of 

* T. Quinctius Atta is almost the only one known to us. He died in 
^S B.C., and it is evident from Horat. 2 Epist. ii. 79, that his Plays were the 
most popular dramas of the day. 



Y40 CIVIL WARS; SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

Imperial Rome, but at all places where Roman remains are pre- 
served, at Verona in Transpadane Gaul, at Aries and Nismes in 
"the Province," at Treves on the distant Moselle, it is the Am- 
phitheatre that characterises the Roman City, as it is the Theatre 
that marks the Greek. 

§ 12. During this period, indeed, a new kind of dramatic 
representation was introduced, which enjoyed a short-lived 
popularity. This was the Mime. The name at least was 
borrowed from the Greeks of Sicily. The Greek Mime was a 
kind of Comic Dialogue in prose, adapted to the purposes after- 
wards pursued by the Roman Satire. But while the Greek 
Mime in the hands of Sophron assumed a grave and dignified 
character, so that Aristotle classes him among Poets though he 
wrote in prose, the Roman Mime was generally coarse and licen- 
tious. Sylla was particularly fond of these productions and their 
authors. After his time, Dec. Laberius, a Knight, strove to give 
them greater dignity. His Mimes, as the fragments show, were 
in iambic verse, and differed from Comedy chiefly in their 
absence of plot and their relation to the topics of the day. The 
fame of Laberius was rivalled by Publ. Syrus, a freedman who 
acted in his own Mimes, Avhereas the Knighthood of Laberius 
forbade this degradation. Caesar, however, on the occasion of 
his quadruple Triumph, thought fit to order Laberius to enter 
into a contest with Syrus ; and the Knight, though a man of 
sixty years, dared not refuse. His sense of the indignity was 
strongly marked by a fine passage in the Prologue, still preserved : 

The Gods themselves cannot gainsay his might ; 
And how can I, a man, think to gainsay it ? 
So then, albeit I' ve lived twice thirty years 
Free from all taint of blame, I left my house 
At morn a Roman Knight and shall return 
At eve a sorry Player. Faith, my Ufe 
Is one day longer than it should have been.* 

In the course of the dialogue he expressed himself with freedom 
against the arbitrary power of the great Dictator : — 

And then, good People, we've outKved our Freedom, f 



" Etenim ipsi Di negare cui nil potuerunt, 
Hominem me denegare quis possit pati ? 
Ergo bis tricenis actis annis sine nota 
Eques Romanus lare degressus meo 
Domum reverto Mimus. JSTimirum hoc die 
Uno plus vixi mihi quam vivendus fuit." 

" Porro, Quirites, libertatem perdimus." 



Chap. LXXI. LUCRETIUS. 741 

And in another line almost ventured to threaten: — 
It needs must be 



' Tliat ho fears many, whom so many fear.* 

Caesar, however, took no further notice of these caustic sallies 
than to assign the prize to Syrus. 

§ 13. In Poetr)'-, the long period from the death of Lucilius 
to the appearance of Virgil and Horace, — a period of about 
sixty years, — is broken only by two names worthy of mention. 
But it must be admitted that these names take a place in the 
first ranks of Roman Literature. It is sufficient to mention 
Lucretius and Catullus. 

T. Lucretius Cams was a Roman of good descent, as his name 
shows. All we know of him is that he was born about 95 b.c, 
and died by his own hand in the forty-fourth year of his age. 
But if little is related of his life, his great Poem on the Nature 
of the Universe is known by name at least to all. It is dedicated 
to C. Memmius Gemellus, a profligate man and an unscrupulous 
politician, who sided now with the Senatorial party, now with 
Caesar, and ended his days in exile at Mitylene. But Memmius 
had a fine sense in literature, as is evinced by his patronage of 
Lucretius and of Catullus. 

The poem of Lucretius seems to have been published about 
the time when Clodius was lord of misrule in the Roman Forum, 
that is, about 58 B.C. Memmius took part against the Dema- 
gogue, and to this the Poet probably alludes in the introduction 
to the First Book, where he regrets the necessity Avhich involved 
his friend in political struggles.f 

The attempt of Lucretius in his great poem is to show that all 
creation took place and that all nature is sustained, without the 
agency of a creating and sustaining God, by the self-operation 
of the elemental atoms of which all matter is composed and into 
which all matter may be resolved. The doctrine is the doctrine 
of Epicurus ; but his arguments are in great part borrowed from 
the early Greek philosophers, who delivered their doctrines in 
heroic verse of the same majestic kind that extorts admiration 
from the reader of Lucretius. He professes unbounded reverence 
for the name of Empedocles ; and, doubtless, if the works of this 
philosopher, of Anaxagoras, and others were in our hands, we 
should see, what their fragments indicate, the sources from 
which Lucretius drew. Mingled with the philosophic argument 

*. " Neeesse est multos timeat, quem multi timent." 

f "Nam neque nos agerehoc patriai tempore iniquo 

Possumus aequo animo, nee Memmi clara propago 
Talibus in rebus eommuni desse saluti." — i. 41. 



Y42 CIVIL WARS : SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

are passages of noble verse; but here also it may be doubted 
liow far we can believe in his originality. One of the most mag- 
nificent passages, — the Sacrifice of Iphigenia,— is taken in every 
.detail from the famous Chorus in the Agamemnon of ^schylus. 
When we see this, and know that the almost universal habit of 
Latin Poets was not to create, but to adapt and borrow, we must 
pause before we give Lucretius credit for originality. 

Yet none can rise from the perusal of Lucretius without feel- 
ing that he was a true Poet. The ingenuity with which he 
employs Latin, a language unused to philosophical speculation, 
to express in the trammels of metre the most technical details 
of natural phenomena, is itself admirable. But more admirable 
are those majestic outbursts of song with which the philo- 
sophical speculations are diversified. The indignant and melan- 
choly passion with which he attacks the superstitious Religion 
of his time cannot but touch us, though we feel that his censure 
falls not upon Superstition only, but upon the sacred form of 
Religion herself. But he was little appreciated at Rome. Cicero 
speaks of him with that cold praise which is almost worse than 
censure,* Horace never makes mention of his name. Virgil 
alone showed the true feeling of a poet by his value for Lucre- 
tius. He scrupled not to borrow whole lines from his poem; 
many passages in the Georgics bear witness to the faithful study 
which he had bestowed on the works of his great predecessor,! 
and in one often-quoted place he confesses his inferiority to the 
great didactic Poet.^j; On the whole, it may be aflirmed that 
Lucretius possessed the greatest genius of all Romaii Poets. 

§ 14. In striking contrast to the majestic gravity of Lucretius 
appears the second Poet whom we have named. C. or Q. Vale- 
rius Catullus (for his first name is variously given) was a native 
of Verona, or its neighbourhood. He was born about 97 e.g., 
and is known to have been alive in the Consulship of Vatinius§ 
(47 B.C.). He was then fifty years of age, and we hear of him 

* "Lucretii poemata, ut seribis, ita sunt: non multis luminibus ingenii, 
multae tamen artis." — Ad Quintiom Fratrem, ii. 11, 4. 

f Compare, for instance, Georg. i. 121 sq. with. Lucret. v. 931 sq.; Georg. 
ii. 461 with Lucret. ii. 24; Georg. iii. 289 with Lucret. i. 921; Georg. iii. 
478 sq. with the description of the Plague in Lucret. vi. ; &c. 

t "Fehx qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas 

Atque metus omnes et inexorabile fatum 
Subjecit pedibus strepitumque Acherontis avari. 

* * * * 

Sin has ne possim naturae aecedere partes, 

Frigidus obstiterit circum prseeordia sanguis, 

Flumiaa amem silvasque inglorus 1" <fee. — Georg. ii. 490, sq. 

§ " Per Consulatum pejerat Vatinius." — Iii. 3. 



Chap. LXXI. CATULLUS AND CALVUS. 743 

no more. His fotlier was a friend of Csesar, and left his son in 
the possession of some property. He had a house on the lovely 
peninsula of Sii'uiio, at the foot of Lake Benacus, well known from 
his own description ;* he had a villa near Tibur, and many of 
his poems indicate the licentiousness of the life which he led at 
Rome. He endeavoured to mend his broken fortunes by attend- 
ing Memmius, the friend of Lucretius, when he went as Praetor 
into Bithynia, but was little satisfied with the result, and bitterly 
complained of the stinginess of his patron.f When he was in 
Asia, his brother died, and he addressed to Hortalus, son of the 
Orator Hortensius, that beautiful and afiecting elegy which alone 
would entitle him to a foremost place among Roman Poets.J 
Fearless of consequences, he libelled Csesar in language too coarse 
for modern ears. The great man laughed when he heard the 
libel, and asked the poet to dinner the same day. 

The poems of Catullus range from gross impurity to lofty 
flights of inspiration. The fine poem called the Atys is the 
only Latin specimen which we possess of that dithyrambic spirit 
which Horace repudiated for himself. The elegy to Hortalus is 
perhaps the most touching piece of poetry that has been left us 
by the ancients. The imitation of Gallimachus is a masterpiece 
in its way. The little poems on passing events, — pieces de circon- 
stance (as the French call them), are the most lively, natural, 
and graceful products of the Latin Muse. To those who agree 
in this estimate it seems strange that Horace should only notice 
Catullus in a passing sneer.§ It is difiicult to acquit the judge • 
of jealousy. For Catullus cannot be ranked with the old Poets, 
such as Livius, Ennius, and others, against the extravagant 
admiration of W'hom Horace not unjustly protested. His lyric 
compositions are as finished and perfect as the productions of 
Horace, who never wrote anything so touching as the Elegy to 
Hortalus, or so full of poetic fire as the Atys. 

With Catullus may be mentioned his friend C. Lucinius Macer, 
commonly called Calvus, whom Horace honours by comprehend- 
ing him in the same condemnation. He was some fifteen years 
younger, and was probably son of Lucinius Macer the Historian. 
He was a good speaker, and a Poet (if we believe other authors, 

* Ad Sirmionem Peninsulam, xxxi. 

f xxviii. 6, sq., xlvii. 2. 

X Ixv. Compare e. 

§ " Quos neque pulcher 

Hermogenes unquam legit, neque simius iste, 

Nil praeter Calvum et doctus eantare Catullum." — 1 Serm. x. 18. 

This was written indeed before Horace published any of his Odes, but not 
necessarily before he had partly executed his design of writing Latin Lyrics. 



744 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

rather than Horace), not unworthy to be coupled with Catullus. 
He died at the early age of thirty-five or thirty-six. 

Another poet highly praised by Catullus was C. Helvius Cinna, 
supposed to be the unlucky man torn to pieces by the rabble 
after Caesar's funeral by mistake for L. Cornelius Cinna. 

§ 15. At the time that the battles of Philippi secured to Italy 
somewhat of tranquillity, many others began to devote them- 
selves to poetry. Among these were L. Varius Rufus, celebrated 
by Horace as the Epic Poet of his time ;* and the few fragments 
from his pen which remain do much to justify the praise. He 
Avas the intimate friend both of Horace and Virgil. 

Furius Bibaculus also may be mentioned here as an Epic Poet, 
who attempted to commit to verse the campaign of Caesar in 
Gaul. Horace ridicules his pretensions in two well-known pas- 
sages ;f but there is reason to think that in the case of Furius 
also the satirist was influenced by some personal feeling. 

But the fame of all other Poets was obscured by the bright- 
ness which encircled the names of Virgil and Horace. Properly 
their history belongs to the Augustan or Imperial era. But as 
they both published some of their best works before the Battle 
of Actium, a slight notice of them may be permitted here. 

§ 16. P. Virgilius (or Vergilius) Maro was born at Andes, a 
village near Mantua, in the famous year 10 B.C., so that he was 
entering manhood about the time when Lucretius put an end 
to his own life. From his father he inherited a small estate. 
After the Battle of Philippi, he was among those whose lands 
were handed over to the soldiery of the victorious Triumvirs. 
But what seemed his ruin brought him into earlier notice than 
otherwise might have been his lot. He was introduced to 
Msecenas by Asinius PoUio, himself a Poet, who had been made 
Governor of Cisalpine Gaul, and was reinstated in his property. 
This happy event, as every one knows, he celebrates in his Fii"st 
Eclogue. But it appears that when he tried to resume pos- 
session he was nearly slain by the rude soldier who had received 
a grant of the land, and it was some months before he was se- 
curely restored.^ In company with Horace, Varius, and others, 
he attended Maecenas in the famous journey to Brundusium 
(probably in 37 B.C.). He had already (in the year 40 b.c.) 
written the famous Eclogue on the Consulship of Pollio, of which 
we have before spoken ; and soon after this he began the 
Georgics, at the special desire of Maecenas. They seem to have 
been published in their complete form soon after the Battle of 
Actium. For the rest of his life, which he closed at Brundusium 

* 1 Carm. vi. 8, 1 Serm. x. 44. f 1 Se7-m. x. 37, 2. Serm. v. 41. 

X To tMs he is supposed to refer in his Ninth Eclogue. 



Chap. LXXI. VIRGIL— HORACE. Y45 

in the fifty-first year of liis age (b.c. 19), he was occupied with 
his ^Encid, which with modest seU'-depreciation he ordered to 
be destroyed. But it was revised by his friends Varius and 
Plotius, and published by order of the Emperor, Avhom he had 
accompanied in a tour through Greece just before his death. 

The character of Virgil was gentle and amiable, his manners 
simple and unobtrusive, and we hear little from himself of the 
great men with whom he was associated in friendship. His 
health was feeble, and his life passed away in uneventful study, 
of which his poems were the fruit and are the evidence. Nothing 
can be more finished than the style and versification of Virgil. 
His phraseology is so idiomatic as often to defy translation ; his 
learning so great, that each page requires a commentary. He 
bestoAved the greatest labour in polishing his writings ; his habit 
being, as is said, to pour forth a vast quantity of verses in the 
morning, which he reduced to a small number by continual 
elaboration, after the manner (as he said) of a bear licking her 
cubs into shape. It may be said that Cicero, Horace, and Virgil 
himself, completed the Hellenising tendency which had begun 
with Ennius. Lucretius, though he borrowed his matter from 
the old Greek philosophers, is much more Roman in his style. 
Catullus is more Roman still. But Virgil, except in idiom, is 
Greek every wdiere. His Eclogues are feeble echoes of the Doric 
grace of Theoci-itus. His Georgics are elaborately constructed 
from the Avorks of Hellenic writei'S, tempered in some of the 
noblest poetic passages with the grave majesty of Lucretius. In 
his -3ilneid almost every comparison and description is boiTowed 
from Homer, Apollonius, and other Greek Poets. In strenfth 
of character his Epic fails entirely. No one person in the 
^neid excites awe, love, sympathy, or any other strong feeling, 
unless we except the untimely end of Nisus and Euryalus, the 
fates of young Lausus and young Pallas, and the death of the 
heroine Camilla. But, notwithstanding all this, such is the 
tender grace of his style, such the elaborate beauty of his 
descriptions, that we read again and yet again with renewed 
delight. 

§ 17. To give any adequate account of the gay Horace in a 
page is impossible. Q. Horatius Flaccus was born in the Colony 
of Venusia in the year 65 B.C., two years before the Consulship 
of Cicero. He Avas therefoi-e nearly six years younger than 
Virgil, and two years older than Octavian. He died in the fifty- 
seventh year of his age (8 b.c), following his friend and patron 
Maecenas, who died a month or two before, according to his ow^n 
prophetic promise.* His father was a Freedman by birth, and 

* Carni. xvii. 8, sq. 

32 



746 CIVIL WARS : SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

by profession a Tax-collector, a good and tender parent, caring 
above all things for the education of his son. He was at the 
expense of taking the promising boy to Kome, probably when he 
was about twelve years old, where he attended the school of 
Orbilius, known to others besides Horace for his belief in the 
maxim that the " sparing of the rod spoils the child."* There 
he learnt Greek as well as Latin, by reading Homer and the old 
Roman Poets. About the age of eighteen he went to complete 
his education at Athens, where Q. Cicero was his fellow-student. 
He was at Athens when Caesar was murdered, and became an 
officer in the army of Brutus. After the Battle of Philippi he 
returned to Rome, and was thrown entirely upon the world. He 
obtained, we know not how, a Clerkship in the Treasury, on the 
proceeds of which he contrived to live in the most frugal manner : 
vegetables and water formed his truly poetic diet.f But he was 
not left to languish in poverty. He became acquainted with 
Varius and Virgil, and was by them introduced to Maecenas ; and 
we have from his own pen a pleasing narrative of the introduction.! 
For several months, however, he received no sign of the great 
man's favour ; but before the journey to Brundusium he was evi- 
dently established in intimacy as great as Virgil's. Soon after this 
he published the First Book of the Satires. The Second Book and 
the Epodes followed ; but in the interval he had received a sub- 
stantial reward from his patron in the present of the Sabine farm, 
so prettily described by himself.§ At a later period he became 
master of a cottage at Tibur, distant about fifteen miles from 
his Sabine villa. But it must be said that, notwithstanding his 
dependence upon patrons, Horace always maintained a steady 
determination not to be subservient to any one. Emperor or 
Minister. The Epistle to Maecenas deserves especial notice; 
for it is written in a tone equally creditable to the Poet 
who would not condescend to flatter the Patron, and to the 
Patron who tolerated such freedom in the Poet.|| Hitherto he 
had declined the name of Poet. But the publication of the 
Three Books of his Odes in rapid succession indicated his title 
to this name, though still he declined to approach subjects 
of Epic grandeur. Before this he had been introduced to 
Agrippa, and somewhat later to Octavia. The First Book of his 
Epistles seems to have been completed in 21 B.C., Avhen the Poet 

* A line is quoted from Domitius Marsus, a brother poet, wlio was edu- 
cated at the school of Orbilius : 

" Si quos Orbilius scutica ferulave cecidit." 
•)■ See the description of his day, 1 Serm. vi. 110, sq. 
X Ibid. 55, sq. % 1 Epist. xvi. 4, sq. 

II 1 Epist. vii. 



CuAp. LXXI. ART. 747 

was beginning his forty-fifth year.* Then followed the Cannen 
Seculare, which may be fixed, by the occasion to which it belongs, 
to the year 17 b.c. After this came the Fourth Book of Odes 
and the Second Book of Epistles, Avorks in great part due to the 
express request of Augustus. 

The popularity of the Odes of Horace has ever been great. He 
disclaims the title of Poet for his other writings : and of the 
Odes he says that he Avrote poetry only under the sharp com- 
pulsion of poverty .f Much is borrowed from the Greek, as we 
know ; and if the Avorks of the Greek Lyric Poets remained to 
us in a less fragmentary form, we should doubtless find far more 
numerous examples of imitation. But the style of Horace is so 
finished, his sentiments expressed with so much lively precision, 
and in w'ords so happily chosen, that he deserves the title which 
he claims of "Eome's Lyric Minstrel." No doubt his poetry was 
the result of great labour, and every persual of his Odes strengthens 
the belief that he spoke literally Avhen he compared himself to 
" the Matine bee, rifling the sweets of many flowei's, and finishing 
his work Avith assiduous labour. It is in the First Book of the 
Epistles that Ave must seek the true genius of Horace, — the easy 
man of the Avorld, popular with his great patrons, the sAvorn 
friend of his brother poets, good-natured to every one, except 
the old poets of Rome, whom he undervalued partly (as in the 
case of Livius) from dislike for a rude and imperfect style, partly 
(as we must suspect in the case of Catullus and Calvus) from an 
irrepressible emotion of jealousy. 

§ 18. The Elegiac Poets, Tibullus and Propertius, with their 
younger and more famous compeer Ovid, and many Avriters of 
lesser note, belong to the Imperial era of Augustus. 

§ 19. A few Avords may be added on the subject of Art gene- 
rally. With the great fortunes that had been amassed first by 
Senatorial Rulers and afterwards by the favourites of the Trium- 
virs, it is natural that Art in some shape should be cultivated. 
But Greek Masters still ruled at Rome ; and a taste began for 
collecting ancient Avorks, such as resembles the eagerness with 
Avhich the pictures of the old Masters are sought in modern 
Europe. In the oration of Cicero against Verres Ave have an 
elaborate exposure of the base and greedy arts by which that 
Avholesale plunderer robbed the Sicilians of their finest Works of 
Art. It Avas, no doubt, an extreme case ; but Verres would not 

* It is impossible here to enter minutely into the time of the publication of 
Horace's works. Their order is pretty Avell ascertained, as given in the text. 
The date of none, except the 1st Book of the Epistles and the Carmen Seculare, 
can be settled exactly, even after all that has been written by Bentley, Tait, 
Milman, and many German scholars. 

f 2 Epist. ii. 50. 



748 CIVIL WARS : SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

have dared to proceed to extremities so audacious, unless lie had 
been encouraged by many precedents. 

§ 20. The Arts also of the Builder and Engineer grew with the 
growing wealth of Rome. It was one of the chief and favourite 
occupations of C. Gracchus, during his brief reign, to improve 
the roads and bridges. The great Dictator Cassar had many 
projects in view when he was cut off, — as, for instance, the drain- 
ing of the mountain-lakes by tunnels, of the Pontine marshes by 
canal. Many of these works were afterwards executed by Agrippa, 
who also (as we have said) constructed the Julian harbour, by 
uniting the Lucrine and Avernian Lakes with the sea. In the 
year 33 b.c. he condescended to act as ^dile, and signalised his 
Magistracy by a complete repair of the aqueducts and sewers. 

Before this time, also, had begun the adornment of the City 
Avith noble buildings of public use. A vast Basilica* Avas laid 
out and begun by M. vEmilius PauUus, Consul in 50 b.c. This 
magnificent work was said to have been erected with money 
received from Csesar as the price of the Consul's good services.f 
But the Basilica Emilia was eclipsed by the splendid plans of 
the Dictator Csesar. A great space had lately been cleared by 
the fire kindled at the funeral of Clodius. Other buildings were 
pulled down, and the Basilica Julia extended on the south of the 
Forum along the frontage formerly occupied by the Tabernas 
Veteres. The great work was completed by Octavian. A 
Gtill more magnificent edifice were the Therma) or Hot-baths 
of Agrippa, and the noble Temple erected by the same great 
builder, which still remains under the name of the Pantheon. 
In this structure the Arch, that instrument by which Rome 
was enabled to give that combination of stability and magnitude 
which distinguishes all her works, achieved its greatest triumph ; 
and here was seen the first of those great vaulted domes which 
became the distinctive attribute of the Christian Architecture 
of modern Italy. By these and many other works, — politic both 
because they increased the magnificence and the health of the 
capital, and also gave constant employment to workmen who 
might otherwise have been turbulent,— the Emperor Augustus 
Avas enabled to boast that he had " found Rome of brick, and 
left it of marble."J 

* The Basilica was a Hall of greater length than breadth, divided into a 
central nave, flanked on each side by aisles. Portions of these buildings 
were set apart for the use of the Law-courts, and for the transaction of other 
kinds of business. The first Basilica was the Porcia, b.c. 184 ; the second 
the Fulvia, b.c. 179. That of PauUus was a restoration of the latter. 

f Chapt. Ixvii. § 2. 

X " Ut jure sit gloriatus marmoream se relinquere, quam lateritiam acce- 
pisset." — ^Sueton. Octav. 28. 



Chap. LXXI. SUPERSTITION. 749 

§ 21, But it Avas not to Rome alone that -Augustus, Agrippa, 
and others contiiiecl their labours. Nothing more excites our 
Avondor than to stumble upon costly works, built with a solidity 
that seems to imply immortality, in the mountain districts of 
Italy, or in remote valleys of Gaul or Asia Minor or Africa. 
Wherever the Roman went he carried with him his art of Build- 
ing. The Aqueduct which was constructed by Agrippa to supply 
Xemausus (Nismes), a colony of no great note, with water, is a 
proof of this assertion. The largest modern cities can hardly 
show a work of public utility so magnificent as the structure 
which is known to thousands of modern travellers under the 
name of the Pont du Gard. 

§ 22. It is needless here to repeat the dismal tale of corruption 
and vice which Avas presented in the life of most of the eminent 
Romans of the time. Even the rich Avho were not vicious in 
their pleasures, such as LucuUus and Hortensius, showed less of 
taste and good sense in their expenditure than a desire of aston- 
ishing by display. The old Religion had lost its hold upon the 
public mind, though superstitious practices lingered among the 
uneducated classes. Philosophy did little to supply the void. 
The practical tendencies of the Roman mind attached it to the 
most practical doctrines of the Hellenic Teachers. The moral 
philosophy of Zeno and Epicurus divided the Roman world; for 
here Avere to be found broad and positive principles of action, 
comprehensible by all. The finer speculations of the Academic 
and Peripatetic Schools found fcAv votaries among men Avho Avere 
equally doAvnright in their purposes of virtuous or vicious 
living. In earlier times the Stoic doctrines had found a response 
in the hearts of men Avho revived the stern simplicity of the old 
Roman life. Some of the best men, in the times that folloAved 
the Punic Wars, Avere Stoics by practice as Avell as in profession. 
Such Avere ^Emilius Paullus and his son the younger Scipio. 
Notwithstanding the pride and self-sufficiency Avhich Avas the 
common result of Zeno's discipline, there Avas something en- 
nobling in the principle that a man's business in life is to 
do his Duty, regardless _ of pleasure or pain, riches or poverty, 
honour or disgrace. But Nature is too strong for such a system 
to prevail for many years or over many men. The popular 
Philosophy of the later times Avas borrowed from the School of 
Epicurus, but it was an easy and fashionable modification of 
the morality of that Philosopher. Epicurus taught that human 
happiness could not exist without Pleasure, but he added, that 
without the practice of Virtue real Pleasure could not exist. 
The former precept was adopted by the sensualists, of Rome: 
the latter Avas set aside. 



Y50 CIVIL WARS: SECOND PERIOD. Book VII. 

Nothing more strongly proves the vicious state of society 
than the neglect of the marriage tie and the unblushing immo- 
rality of the female sex. Csesar and Octavian, though their own 
practice Avas not such as to set exainple to society, both saw the 
danger of this state of things, and both exerted themselves to 
restore at least outward decency. Lawful marriage they endea- 
voured to encourage or even to enforce by Law. 

§ 23. But if Religion had given "way. Superstition was busy at 
work. Men in general cannot entirely throw aside those senti- 
ments wliich are unfolded with more or less of strength in every 
mind and in ev^ery state of social existence. There will still be 
cravings after spiritual things and the invisible world. The 
ancient Oracles had fallen into disrepute, and soon after the Fall 
of the Republic (as is well known to Christian students) shrank 
into ignoble silence. But behind the Hellenic, a new world was 
now opened to Rome. She became familiar with the mystic specu- 
lation and the more spiritual creeds of the East. The fanatical 
worship of the Egyptian Divinities, Isis and Serapis, became 
common even in Rome, notwithstanding the old feeling against 
Cleopatra, and notwithstanding many attempts to crush this 
worship. It became a common practice to seek for revelations 
of the future by means of the stars. The grim Marius carried 
about with him a Syrian soothsayer. To consult Babylonian 
star-readers was familiar to the friends of Horace. Magi were 
the companions of Roman magistrates. One of Juvenal's most 
striking pictures is that of the gloomy voluptuary Tiberius 
sitting in his island Palace surrounded by a host of Chaldsean 
astrologers. Nor could the purer and sublimer images of the 
Hebrew Scriptures be unknown. Jews abounded in every po- 
pulous City of the Empire long before they were scattered by the 
fall of their Holy City. Virgil drew one of his noblest bursts 
of poetry from the inspiration of Isaiah's prophetic visions. 
Others sought the presence of God in Nature, and confounded 
the Divinity with his works. Man seemed to them such a mass 
of contradictory iijeannesses, that they tried to solve the riddle 
of evil, by supposing that he, like the animals and the whole 
creation, was but a machine animated by the universal and 
pervading spirit of the Deity. Such was the elder Pliny,* who 
forfeited a life spent in the study of nature to the curiosity 
which led him to brave the fires of Vesuvius. 

§ 24. Out of this seething mass of doubts and fears, uncer- 
tain belief and troubling disbelief, rose an eagerness to find and 
a readiness to receive the principles of that Religion which took 

* See his Natural History (ii. 5), — a very striking and interesting passage. 



Chap. LXXI. PREPARATION FOR CHRISTIANITY. 



;i 



root a few years later in Galilee and Judtea, and wliicli extended 
itself with marvellous rapidity over every Province of the Em- 
pire, The purity of its morality attracted those whose hearts 
"were still craving for something better than could be found in 
the Religions or Philosophies of the day. Its divine aspirations 
and the light it threw upon the baffling uncertainties of life 
beyond the grave, offered great attractions to those who were 
looking with doubt and fear upon all that lay before or behind. 
The breaking up of national distinctions, the union of all the 
Mediterranean shore under one strong and central Government, 
the roads and canals which connected countries and Provinces 
under the magnificent rule of the first Csesars, were potent 
instruments in assisting the rapid march of the new Religion. 
All things, moi-al and physical, internal and external, concurred 
to promote the greatest, but most silent. Revolution that 
has ever passed over the mind of the civilised portion of the 
World. 




M. Vipsanius Agrippa 



INDEX 



ABOBIGINES. 



Aborigines of Latium, 18. 

Accensi, who, 48, 188. 

Accius, tragic poet, 513. 

Achaean League, 416. Submits 
to the kings of Macedon, 
ib. Position after death of 
Aratus, 420. Acts -with 
Home against Philip, 425. 
Vexation at seeing Nabis 
spared, 430. Real weak- 
ness, 436. Achtean patriots 
sent prisoners to Rome, 468. 
Set free, 4T6. Encouraged 
by Pseudo-PhUippus to de- 
clare war, 4T7. Defeated 
by Metellus, ib. 

Actium, battle of, T28. 

Addieti, who, 90, 93. 

^diles. Plebeian, 94. Elected 
at Comitia Tributa, 1 i)U. 

^diles, Curule, 160, 3T1, oT2. 

iEgatian Isles, battle of, 279. 

JEmilian Road, 442. 

iEmilius Mamercus, 131. 

.iEmilius Paullus,L., conquers 
lUyrians : Consul before 
Oannse, 311. Unwilling to 
fight, 312. Death, 314. 

.lEmilius PauUus, L., son of 
last, conquers Ligurians, 
442. Consul against Per- 
seus, 462. Wins battle of 
Pydna, 403. Settles Mace- 
donia, 464. Triumph, 465. 
Censorship and death, 471. 

jEneas, legend of, 22. 

^quians, an Oscan tribe, 16. 
Country, 85. Power after 
expulsion of Tarquins, 102. 
Defeated by Cincinnatus, 
108. 

..Esernia, city of, 178. 

^tolian • League, 417. ^Eto- 
lians invade Peloponnesus, 
expelled by Philip V., ib. 
Allied with Rome, 420. 
tUaim chief honour at Cy- 
nocephalai, 427. Discon- 
tent at peace with Philip, 
428. Invite Antiochus into 
Greece, 433, 434. Saved by 
Flamininus, 436, 439. 

Afraniue, L., defeated by 
Csesar in Spain,678. Escapes 
to Africa, 689. Death, 691. 



Afranius, L., comic poet, 513. 

Agathocles, king of Syracuse, 
228. His struggles with 
Carthaginians, 264. 

Ager Publicus, 96, 1.58. How 
available for surplus popu- 
latioB, 397. Plans of Grac- 
chus for using, 520, seq. 

Ager Romanus, 82. 

Agis IV., king of Sparta, his 
reforms and death, 415. 

Agrarian Law, nature of, 96, 
seq. Of Licinius, 158. Of 
M. Curius, 226. Of Ti. 
Gracchus, 520. Of 0. Grac- 
chus, 541. Of Saturninus, I 
568. Of L. Brutus, 603. Of 
EuUus, 644. Of Csesar, 655. 1 

Agric;ilture, 409. Of Africa, I 
486. Fondness of the Ro- 
mans for, 497. Its decline, 
506. Treatises, 738. I 

Agrigentum taken, 268. By 
Carthaginians, 263, 329. 

Agrippa, M. Vips., 706. Con- 
cludes the war of Perusia, 
721. Forms the Julian har- 
bour, 723. Defeats Sext. 
Pompeius, 724. Minister 
of Octavian, 726. His 
splendid works, 748, seq. 

Ahala, C, Servilius, kills Sp. 
Majlius, 134. 

Ala of Cavalry, what, 188. 

Alaiula, Gallic Legion, 695. 

Alba Fucentia, colony, 208. 

Alba Longa, foundation, 23. 
Destruction, 35-37. 

Alban Hills, description of, 84. 

Alban Lake, draining of, 139. 

Albinus commands against 
Jugurtha, 549. Death, 550. 

Alexander of Macedon, con- 
temporary with early part 
of Samnite Wars, 259. De- 
signs upon West, 260. Fate 
of his empire, 412. 

Alexander, son of Perseus, 
last heir to Macedon, 466. 

Alexander ^f Molossus, lands 
in Italy, and death, 196. 

Alia, battle of the, 146. 

Allolarogian Gauls, befriend 
Hannibal, 301. Conquered, 
547. Concerned with Cati- 
line, 647. 

Alps, passed by Hannibal, 
301. 

Ambitus, what, 449. 



Ambracia built, 239. Taken 
by ^tolians, 417. Besieged 
by Fulvius Nobilior, 439. 

Ambrones, who, 557. 

Amiternum, 85, 177. 

Amphipolis, 464. 

Amphitheatr.2S, characteristic 
of Roman towns, 739. 

Amynander sides with Rome 
against Philip, 425. 

Anagnia taken by Rome, 208. 
Submits to Pyrrhus, 243. 
A prefecture, 253. 

Ancile, Ancilia, what, SO. 

Ancus Martins, Sabine, 36. 
Popular character, 37. 

Andriscus pretends to the 
throne of Macedon, 477. 

Anicius, L., defeats Genthius, 
462. 

Annies Pontificum, 162. 

Annius, T., accuses T. Grac- 
chus, 523. 

Antemnse, Sal ine city. "6. 

^Ante-signani, who, 188. 

Antigonus, king of Syria and 

I Asia Minor, 413. 

'Antigonus Doson, 415. Mas- 

i ter of Achaian League, 410. 

Antigonus Gonatus, 415. 

Antiochus I., king of Syi'ia, 
founds Antioch, 413. 

Antiochus the Great, 414. 
Proposes to divide Egypt 
with Philip, 421. Warned 
by Flamininus, 429. Crosses 
Hellespont, 431. Visited by 
Hannibal, 433. Persuaded 
by .iEtolians to invade 
Greece, 434. Defeated at 
Thermopylae, 485. Returns 
to Asia, 436. Defeated at 
Magnesia, 438. 

Antiochus Epiphanes (or Epi- 
manes), invades Egypt, 
stopped by "Cii-cle" of Po- 
pillius, 467. Tyranny over 
Jews, 469. Death, 470. 

Antonius, M. (orator), com- 
pared with Crassus, 567. 
Defends Aquillius, 572. Im- 
peached, 574. Put to death 
by Marius, 531. 

Antonius, M., son of last, 
commands against Pirates, 
called Creticus, 034. 

Antonius, C, brother of last, 
colleague of Cicero, 643. 
Sent against Catiline, 646, 



INDEX. 



649. Impeached by Clodius, 
658. 

Antonius, M. (Triumvir!!? 
Tribune, CT-i. Joins Cffisar 
at Ariminum, 070. Left 
to bring part of Ctesar's 
.army to Epirus, CSO. De- 
lays and eventual success, 
OSl. Sent to rule Italy 
after Pharsalia, 039, GOO. 
Offers diadem to Csestir, COS. 
Kscapes during Cwsar's 
iuurder,T04. Makes advances 
to conspirators, 705. Ora- 
tion over Ciesar's body, 700. 
Master of Korae, 706. En- 
deavours to foil Octavian, 
707. Arbitrary rule, ib. 
Takes field against Dec. 
Brutus, 700. Defeated by 
Hirtius, 710. Retires into 
Gaul to Lepidus, 710. Ne- 
gotiates with Octavian, 711. 
Forms 2nd Triumvirate, 
712. Proscription, ib. Ar- 
rives at Philippi, 716. Wins 
first battle, 717. Receives 
East, in 2n(i distribution of 
Provinces, 720. Follows 
Cleopatra to Egypt, ib. 
Threatens Italy, 7:il. Mar- 
ries Octavia, 722. Returns 
to Athens, 723. Attempts 
against Parthians, 725. Puts 
Sext. Pompeius to death, 
ib. Returns to Cleopatra, 
ib. Will published at Rome, 
727. Prepares for war, ib. 
Loses battle of Actium, 72S. 
Death, 729. 

Anxur, colony, 197. 

Apega, wife of Xabis, 429. 

Apollonia, in Epirus, occupied 
by Romans, 201. 

Appeal, laws of, 126. 

Appian Road and Aqueduct, 
222, seq. 

Appius Claudius (I.), a Sa- 
bine, 81. Leader of Patri- 
cians against Plebeians, 91. 

Appius Claudius (II.), son of 
I., opposes first Publilian 
Law, 100. Impeachment 
and suicide, 112. 

Appius Claudius (III.), son of 
II., Decemvir, 115. Legend 
of Virginia, 117, seq. Im- 
peachment and suicide, 122. 

Appius Claudius Cfecus, con- 
sul in 3rd Samnite War, 
211. Heads city populace, 

220. Censor, ib. Distributes 
freedmen over all tribes, 

221. Public works, 222. 
Consul, 223. Dissuades 
peace with Pyrrhus, 242. 
His house, 400. 

App. Claudius, son oi las^, 
defeats Hiero, 266. 



ASIA. 

Appiuff Clodius Pulchcr, his 
embassy to Tigranes, 631. 

■Apulians, 16, 179. Engage in 
2nd Sanuiite War, 199. 
Join Hannibal, 317. 

Aquffi Sextia^ first colony in 
Gaul, 541. Battle ot, 500. 

Aquileia, colony there, 445. 

Aquillius, M', cruslies 2nd 
Slave War iu Sicily, 534. 
Impeached, 572. Put to 
death by Mithridates, 596. 

Aratus of Sicyon, author of 
Achiean League, calls in 
Macedonians against Clo- 
omenes, 410. Poisoned, 4,^0. 

Arch, use of, in Roman archi- 
tecture, 410, 74S. 

Archelaus, occupies Piraeus, 
590. Obstinate resistance 
to Sylla, 597. Retires to 
Boeotia, ib. Defeated at 
Chseronea, 5?S. At Orcho- 
menus, ib. Interview with 
Sylla,_599. 

Archimedes, his inventions 
for defence of Syracuse, 
328. 

Architecture, at Rome, 409, 
748^ 

Archytas, follower of Pytha- 
goras, 203, 231 . 

Ariminum, gives name to 
first Gallic Province, ~5i, 
291. 

Aristobulus, king of Judea, 
dethroned by Pompej-, 037. 

Aristion induces Athenians 
to revolt, 590. Surrenders 
to Sylla, 597. 

AristonTcus revolts against 
Rome, 529. 

Army of Rome aad Latium, 
187-189. In Gallic War 
of 225 u-c, 289. Officers 
continually changed, 373. 
Resembled a militia, 374. 
Changes after Punic Wars, 
447, 505. 

Arpinum, prefecture, 253, 
550. 

Arretium, in alliance with 
Rome, 210. 

Artists, notice of earliest 
names, 407. 

Arts of Design at Eorne, 
whence derived, 407, seq. 

Arts, useful, little cultivated 
in early times at Rome, 
409. See Building. 

Ascanius, legend of, 23. 

Asculum, battle of, 244. 

Asculum, in Picenum, taken, 
250. Social War there, 575. 
Siege, 579. 

Asia, province of, 594. Asi- 
atics receive Mithridates 
with joy, 596. Fined by 
SyUa, 600. Fleeced by Met. 



Scipio, 600. By Brutus and 

Cassius, 715. 

Asiddui, who, 47. 

Asi/luin, what, 26. 

AtJjllane Fables, what, 403. 

AthcnTo, 563, seq. 

Athens, condition of, 415. De- 
mands protection against 
Philip, 422. Suburbs de- 
stroyed by Philip, 423. 
Taken by Sylla, 597. 

Attains I., of Pergamus, 414. 
Joins Rome against Pliilip, 
420. Flies before Philip, 
422. Death, 426. 

Attains II. incited to accuse 
his brother Eumenes, 469. 
Succeeds him, ib. 

Attus Clausus, Sabine chief, 
joins Romans, 81. 

Avenio, Hannibal crossed 
Rhone near, 299. 

Aventine Hill, peopled by 
Latins, 37. Divided among 
plebeian families, 114. 

Augurs, number of, 31, 49. 
Increased, 218. 

Auruncans and Ausonians, 
16. Annihilated in 2nd 
Samnite War, 206. 



B. 

Bacchatjalian rites secretly 
practised at Rome, 449. 

Balbus, L. Cornelius, first 
foreign consul, 690. 

Balearic Isles, supply sling- 
ers to Carthage, 262. Sub- 
dued, 547. 

Ballot, successive laws for its 
introduction, 494. 

Basilicas, Roman, 743. 

Bastarnians, who, 458. 

Beneventum, 173, 203. Pyr- 
rhus defeated there, 240. 
Defies Hannibal, 309. 

Bibulus, M. Calp., colleague 
of Cfesar in asdileship, 641. 
In consulship, 654. At- 
tempts to thwart Coesar, 
655. Pompey's admu'al, 
680. Death, 681. 

Blossius, preceptor of Ti. 
Gracchus, 519. Questioned 
by Lrelius, 528. 

Bocchus, king of Mauritania, 
552. Retires before Ma- 
rias, 553. Gives up Ju- 
gurtha, 5.54. 

Boian Gauls conquered, 234. 
Declare for Hanuibal, 303. 
Subdued, 4-11. 

Bononia Felslna, 442. 

Bovianum, chief city of Pen- 
trian Samnites, 178. 

Brennus, king of Senonian 
Gauls, 145. Name, ib. 



'754 



INDEX. 



BEnNDTJSnJM. 

Brundtisium, colony, 253. 

Bruttians, 1T9. Submit after 
departure of Pyrrlius, 249. 
Joia Hannibal, ylT. Head 
quarters of Hannibal, 333. 

Brutulus Papius, 20-'. 

Brutus, Dec. -Junius, conquers 
Gallicia, 493. Patron of 
Accius, 513. Leads attack 
upon C. Gracchus, 543. 

Brutus, Dec. Junius, legate 
of Csesar, 6TT. Conspirator, 
700. Collects gladiators, 
704. Occupies part of Rome, 

706. Seizes Cisalpine Gaul, 

707. Besieged in Mutina, 
709. Unable to pursue An- 
tony, 711. Death, 712. 

Brutus, L. Junius, name, 60. 
Kxpels Tarquinius, 62. 
Judgment of his sons, 64. 

Brutus, L. Junius, one of 
first tribunes, 92. 

Brutus, L. Junius, a leader 
of Marian party, Agrarian 
law of, 603. Legate to 
Lepidus, 621. Put to death 
by Pompey, 622. 

Brutus, M. Junius, son of last, 
submits to Csesar, 685. His 
habits, 699. Conspiracy 
against Cajsar, ib. Pro- 
claims liberty, 704. Quits 
Eome, 706. Hesitation, 707. 
Leaves Italy, 708. Occu- 
pies Macedonia, 715. Joins 
Cassius in Asia, ib. Ba- 
sieges Xanthus, ib. Story 
of the spectre, 716. At 
Philippi, ib. First battle, 
717. Second battle, and 
death, 718. Character, ib. 

Building at Eome, 409. Un- 
der Octavian, 74S. 

Burial, outside walls, 410. 

Burning alive, 121. 

Burning - glasses of Archi- 
medes, 328. 

Byrsa of Carthage, 262. 

C- 

Ctecilius, Q., comic poet, 513. 

Ceecuban vineyards, 191. 

Caeles Vibenna, 28, 39. 

Cselian Hill, occupied by 
Etruscans, 28. By Latins 
of Alba, 36. 

Cselius Kufus, M., won by 
Caesar, 674. Proposes abo- 
lition of debts, 689. 

Caenlna, Sabine city, 26. 

Csepio, Q. Servilius, his 
double treachery, 492. 

Caspio, Q. Servilius, defeated 
by Cirabrians, 558. Con- 
demned by people, 565. 

Caepio, Cn. Servilius, opposes 
Saturninus, 570. 



Caere, forsakes Eome, 175. 
Prefecture, franchise, 252. 

Csesar, C. Julius, marries 
daughter of Oinna, 617, 640, 
Early life, 640, seq. Re- 
stores trophies of Marius, 
641. JSdile during affair 
of Catiline, ib. Supports 
Agrarian law of RuUus, 
044. Promotes prosecution 
of Eabirius, ib. Pont. Max., 
645. Speaks against capital 
punishment of Catilinari- 
ans, 648. Whether an ac- 
complice, 640, seg. Supports 
Pompey, 653. Borrows of 
Crassus,i6. Prsetor in Spain, 
ib. Cabal with Pompey and 
Crassus (1st Triumvirate), 
654. Consul, ib. Agrarian 
law, 655. Confirms Pom 
pey's acts, ib. Gratifies 
tax-collectors, 656. Obtains 
both Gauls, 556. Marries 
Julia to Pompey, ib. Di- 
vorce, 657.- Marries Cal 
purnia, 658. Offers place 
to Cicero, ib. Promotes his 
banishment, ib. Promotes 
mission of Cato to Cyprus, 
659. First three campaigns 
in Gaul, 661, seq. Court at 
Lucca, 663. Threatened by 
consuls, 666. Government 
prolonged, ib. Fourth cam- 
paign in Gaul, 669. Accused 
of treachery, ib. Invades 
Britain, 670. Threatened 
with general rising of Gauls, 
ib. Triumph, 070, 673. 
Prepares for a struggle at 
home, 674. Gives back two 
legions to Pompey, 675. 
Proposes that both should 
resign, ib. Proclaimed a 
public enemy, ib. Crosses 
Rubicon, 676. Master of 
Italy, 676, geq. Conquers 
Pompeians in Spain, 678. 
Named dictator by Lepi- 
dus, and resigns, ib. Lands 
in Epirus, 080. Joined by 
Antony, 681. Draws lines 
round Pompey, ib. Re- 
treats into Thessaly, 682. 
Battle of Pharsalia, 683, seq. 
Pursues Pompey, 684, 687. 
War at Alexandria, 688. 
Seeming indolence in Egypt, 
690. Conquers Pharnaces, 
ib. Dictator (2nd time), ib. 
Quells mutiny of 10th le- 
gion, ib. Subdues Pompei- 
ans in Africa, 691. Eeturns 
to Eome, 692. Quadruple 
triumph, ib. Leniency, ib. 
Dictator (3rd time), 693. 
Campaign against Pompei- 
ans in Spain, ib. Fifth tri 



umph, 694. Legislative re- 
forms, 694, 697. Loss of 

^ popularity, 69S. Dictator 
for life, ib. Wishen to be 
■ king, ib. Plan to make him 
king in the provinces, 099. 
Conspiracy against, 699. 
Assassination, 701. Chai 
racter, ib. Confirmation 
of his acts, 705. Will and 
funeral, ib. 

Cfesar, Sext. Julius, his mis- 
sion to Corinth, 478. 

CalatTnus Serranus, Au. Ati- 
lius, story of, 277. 

Calendar of Cn. Flavius, 221. 
Condition of in Csesar's 
time, 696. Eeform, 697. 

Cales, 190. Colony, 196. 

Callicrates, Eomanising chief 
of Achsean League, 468, 476, 
477. Death, 477. 

Calor, river, 178. 

Calvus, C. Licinius Macer, 
the poet, 743. 

CaTnena, what, 30. 

Camillus, L. Furius, entitled 
Deliverer of Eome, 150. 

Camillus, M. Furius, Dicta- 
tor, 138. Takes Veil, 140. 
Takes Falerii, ib. Greedi- 
ness, 142. Banishment, ib. 
Conquest of Gauls, 149. 
Eeconciles orders and builds 
temple of Concord, 161. 
Death, 108. 

Campagna of Eome, 82. 

Campanians, 16. Were Sam- 
nites, 179 Subjects of 
Rome, 190. Join Hannibal, 
318. 

Cannse, battle of, 312, seq. 

Cantabrians, who, 443. 

Canuleius, law of, 129. 

Canusium, 18. 

Capitol distinguished from 
Arx, 26. Temple of Capi- 
toline Jupiter, 59. Burnt, 
606. 

Capua, founded by Capys, 17. 
Anciently Vulturnum, 179. 
Share in 1st Samnite War, 
180. Condition after Latin 
War, 194. A prefecture, 
253, 257, 334. Admits Han- 
nibal, 317. Besieged, 331. 
Surrender, 333, 337. 

Carbo, Q. Papirius, leads de- 
mocracy after death of Ti. 
Gracchus, 529. Urges exe- 
cution of Agrarian law, 530. 
Supposed murderer of Sei- 
pio, 532. Suicide, 546. 

Carbo, Cn. Papirius, joins Cin- 
na, 589. Consul with Cinna 
twice, 601, 602. Sole con- 
sul, 602. Consul 3rd time, 
606. Repulses Sylla, 607. 
Flight, 608. Death, 612. 



INDEX. 



755 



CjUINEjVDES. 

Carneades, embassy of to 
Rome, 47-. 

Carseoli, -OS. 

Carthage, account of, 2G0, seq. 
Site of, 485. Fall, -IS'.). At- 
tempt to found colony there 
by C. Gracchus, -i'M, 541. 

Carthaginians, commercial 
treaty with Rome, SO, '203. 
Struggles with kings of Sy- 
racuse, '229. Defeated by 
Gelon, 229, 263. Sottle- 
meuts and attempts in Si- 
cily, 2G3. Second treaty 
with Rome, 265. Rupture, 
229, seq. See Punic iVars, 
Hamilcar, Hannibal, Matti- 
7lissa. Perfidious dealings 
of senate, 481, seq. Prepa- 
rations for resistance, 484. 
See Scipio. 

Carthago Nova, founded by 
Hasdrubal, 292. Taken by 
Scipio Africanus, 353. 

Carvilius, Sp., in 3rd Samnite 
War, 214. Sets up a statue 
in the capitol, 40T. 

Carvilius, Sp., proposes to fill 
senate with Latins, 319. 

Casca, P. Servilius, conspira- 
tor against Csesar, 700. 

Caslnum, colony, 206. 

Casilinum, prefecture, £58. 
Taken by Hannibal, 318. 

(Jassius Longinus, C, repulses 
Parthians, 669. Submits to 
Csesar, 6SS. One of chief 
conspirators, 700. Leaves 
Italy, 70S. Takes posses- 
sion of Syria, 715. Joins 
Bru4us, ib. Extortions, 716. 
Defeated by Antony, 717. 
Death, ib. 

Cassius Longinus, Q., tribune, 
supports Csesar, 075. Left 
by Cfesar in Spain, 678. 

Cassius, Sp., thrice consul, 

96. Author of 1st Agrarian 
law, 96, seq. Impeachment, 

97. Author of League with 
Latins and Hernicans, 110. 

Castor and Pollux, temple, 
54. "Worship at Rome, 69. 

CatilTna, L. Sergius, early life, 
642. Conspiracy, ib. Ac- 
quitted, C43. Loses consul- 
ship, ib. Betrayed by Ful- 
via, 646. Cicero attacks. 
him, ib. Proclaimed public 
enemy, ib. Death, 649. 

Cato, M. Porcius (censor), le- 
gate of Glabrio, 436. Quae- 
stor in Sicily, 443. Consul 
in Spain, ib. Triumph, 444. 
Early life, 450. Attacks 
Hellenic fashions, 451. As- 
sails Scipio, 452. Deserts 
senatorial party, 454. Cen- 
sor : his rigour, ib. Pecu- 



CHEYSOGONUS. 

liarities, 454, seq. Becomes 
less rigorous, 471. Moves 
dismissal of Greek sophists, 
472. Defends Spaniards, ib. 
Intercedes for Achcean cap- 
tives, 476. Urges destruc- 
tion of Carthage, 482. 
Death, 4S7. 

Cato, M. Porcius (of Utica), 
lieutenant of Pompey, 635. 
Speech upon punishment by 
death, 648. Opposes con- 
firmation of Pompey" s acts, 
652. Sent to conquer Cy- 
prus, 658, seq. Character, ib. 
Executes his commission, 
665. Defends Clodius, ib. 
Proposes to deliver C.'Esar 
to Gauls, 669. At Corcyra, 
6S9. Accompanies Ponipei- 
ans to Africa, ib. March 
to Utica, ib. Disinterested' 
ness, ib. Deatli, 691. 

Catullus, 742, seq. 

Catulus, Q. Lutatius, ends 
1st Punic War, 279, seq. 

Catulus, Q. Lutatius, col- 
league of Marius in 4th 
consulship. Character, 558. 
Posted in Lombardy against 
Cimbrians, 559. Proconsul, 
561. Retreats, ib. Joined 
by Marius, ib. Commands 
at VercellK, 'ib. Merits, 
582. Put to death by Ma- 
rius, 592. 

Catulus, Q. Lutatius, son of 
last, leader of senatorial 
party, 620. Last Princeps 
Senatus in republic, 628. 

Celeres, ancient name for 
knights, 30. 

Celtiberians, who, 443. 

Censorious, L., consul in Af- 
rica, 482-4S6. 

Censors appointed, 130. Te- 
nure of ofiice shortened, 
131. One plebeian, 170, 191. 
Both plebeian, 530. 

Censorship, new powers in 
hands of Cato and success- 
ors, 455. Suppressed by 
Sylla, 616. Revived by se- 
nate, 628. Censorial power 
granted to Octavian, 783. 

Census of Servius, 48. 

Centumviri, who, 160. 

Centurice, 47. 

Centuria Prcerogaiiva, 324. 

Cethegus, C. Cornelius, one 
of Catilinarians, 646. Cha- 
racter, 647. Death, 648. 

Chseronea, battle of, 598. 

Chaonians, 15. 

Charops, guides Flaminius 
to Philip's camp, 424. 

Ch,arops, head of Roman 
party in Epirus, 461. 

Chrysogonus, 014, 618. 



Cicero, M. TuUius, attacks 
Sylla, 618. Quits Rome, 627. 
Quaistor in Sicily, ib. Pro- 
secutes Verres, ib. Designs 
to defend Catiline, 643. 
Consul, ib. Speaks against 
Agrarian law of RuUus, 
644. Defends Rabirius, ib. 
First and second speeches 
against Catiline, §^6. Ar- 
rests conspirators, 047. 
Third speech, ib. Fourth 
speech, 048. His haste, ib. 
Defends Murena, ib. Ac- 
quits CcEsar of complicity 
with Catiline, 650. Vanity, 
651. Prevented from speak- 
ing by Metellus Nepos, ib. 
Opposes Agrarian law of 
Cicear, 655. Perplexity as 
to Pompey, 650. Offends 
Clodius, 657. Impeached by 
him, 058. Retires to Thes- 
salonica, 059. Recalled, 063, 
604. Joins triumvirs, 067. 
Returns, 079. Joins Pom- 
pey in East, ib. Offered 
command after Pharsalia, 
689. Visited by Cajsar, 098. 
Leaves senate-house during 
Csesar' s murder, 704. Visits 
conspirators in capitol, ib. 
Seconds Antony's motion 
for amnesty, 705. Proposes 
to leave Italy, 708. Returns 
to Rome, ib. First Philip- 
pic, ib. Publishes second 
Philippic, 709. Again leaves 
Rome, 711. Death and cha- 
racter, 713, seq. Oratory 
and writings, 736, 739.— 

Cicero, Q. TuUius, brother of 
last, governor of Asia Mi- 
nor, 063. Legate of Caesar, 
ib. Reconciles his brother 
to Cfesar, 667. Death, 713. 

Cilician Pirates treat with 
Spartacus, 624 Daring ex- 
ploits, 633. Crushed by 
Pompey, 635. 

Cimber, L. Tillius, conspira- 
tor against Csesar, 700. 

Cimbrians, origin, 557. First 
conflicts with Romans, ib. 
Pass into Spain, 558. Pass 
to North of Italy, 559. De- 
scend Adige, 561. Annihi- 
lated at VercelliB, 562. 

Ciminian Hills, 86, 207. 

Cincinnatus,L., 106-108. Dic- 
tator, 134. 

Cincius, Alimentus L., early 
Latin annalist, 406. 

Cineas, minister of Pyrrims, 
sent to Rome, 242. Death, 
245. Saying on wine of 
Latium, 409. 

Cinna, poet, murdered at C'a:- 
sar's funeral, 700, 744. 



756 



INDEX. 



CINNA. 

Cinna, L. Cornelius, consul, 
SS8. Heads ne-w citizens, 
ib. Driven from Rome, ib. 
Eevives Italian "War, 5S9. 
Joined by Carbo, Sertorius, 
Marius, ib. Enters Rome, 
530. Assumes consulship 
2nd time, 592. 3rd and 4th 
times, 601, 602. Expedition 
to Dalmatia, 602. Mur 
dered, ib. 

Circus Maximus, 45. 

Oirta, 356, 549, 551. 

Cities, centres of ancient civi- 
lization, 395. 

Civil War, first, 532, 
Second, 004, seq. Third, 
708, seq. Fourth, 719, seq. 

Civrtates Liberce et Federatoe, 
257. In provinces, S8S. 

Clselia, legend of, 67. 

Classes of Servius, 47, seq. 
Change, 378. 

Claudius, P., son of App. Clau- 
dius Csecus, loses fleet at 
Drepanum, 277. 

Cleomenes III., king of Sparta, 
reforms, 416. Defeated at 
Sellasia, ib. 

Cleon, leader of insurgent 
slaves, 500. Death, 5D1. 

Cleonymus of Sparta, called 
in by Tarentines, 232. 

Cleopatra, history, 085. Wins 
Csesar, 6SS. Queen of Egypt, 
ib. At Rome, 699. Disap- 
pointed by Caesar's "will, 
705. Sails up Cydnus, 726. 
Takes Antony to Egypt, ib. 
Forsaken, 7-3. Again at- 
tracts Antony, 725, seq. Her 
son by Antony made king 
of Armenia, 726. Flies at 
Actium, 728. Seeks to win 
Octavian, 729. Death and 
character, ib. 

aliens, derivation, 28. 

Clients, what, 28, seq. 

Clivus Capilolinus, 55. 

Cloaca Maxima, 45. 

Clocks, water-clocks, when 
first used at Rome, 409. 

Clodius Pulcher, excites sedi- 
tion in array of LucuUus, 
633. Impeaches Catiline, 
642. Violates mysteries, 
657. Cicero deposes against 
him, ib. Impeaches C. 
Antonius, 658. Tribune, ib. 
Impeaches Cicero, ib. Ca- 
reer as tribune, 660. Of- 
fends Pompey, 663. Bars 
recall of Cicero, 664. At- 
tacked by Cicero, 665. 
JEdile,ib. Continued power, 
671. Killed by Milo, ib. 
Riots at funeral, ib. 

Clubs. See CoUiones. 

Cluilins, dictator of Alba, 34. 



CORPINrcM. 



CUEIO. 



CoUiones or Clubs of patri'j Corinth taken, 478, seq. 

cians against plebeians, 217- Coriolanus, C. Marcius, 
Collatinus, son of Egerius, 44. 



Colline Gate, 54. Hannibal's 
approach, 333. Sylla's, 585. 
Battle there, 608, seq. 

Colonies, Roman and Latin, 
254. List of Roman, 255. 
What meant by Latin co- 
lonies, ib. (See Latins.) 
Colonies of C. Gracchus, 
54!. All previous colonies 
v.-i.l;in Italy, ib. ; cf. 254. 
Military colonies of Sylla, 
614. Of Cissar, 096. Of 
Ootavian, 720, 733. 

Columna Rostrata, what, 270. 

Comedy at Rome, 510. 

Comitia Centuriata, 48. In- 
fluence of patricians, 98. 
Change in constitution, S7S. 
Relation to Comitia Tri- 
buta, 381. At end of Punic 
Wars, 383. 

Comitia Curiata, 29. Lose 
legislative power by Pub- 
lilian law, 191. Condition 
in Cicero's time, 370. 

Comitia Tributa, 51. Power 
increases with that of tri- 
bunes, 879. 

Comitium, what, 27, 55. 

Commercii jus, what, 192. 

Compitalia, festival of, 32. 

Conciliabulum, what, 536. 

Concord, temple of, erected 
by Camillus, 161. By Opi 
mius, 544. 

Confarreutio, what, 399. 

Connubium, 41, 42. Refused 
to plebeians, 127. Conced 
ed by Canuleian law, 129. 
One of Jura privata, 192. 
Cajsar's marriage-law, 696. 
Octavian's, 750. 

Consualia, Consus, 20. 

Consuls, anciently called prse- 
tors or judices, 63, 120. 
Never elected by curies, 
98. Name, 121. Replaced 
by decemvirs, 115. By mi- 
litary tribunes, 130. Con 
Bulate opened to plebeians, 
160. Both patrician, 170. 
Both plebeian, 170, 370. 
Age for consulship, 371. 
After Ist Punic War, con- 
fined to wealthy families, 
373. Reelection, 374. In- 
vested by senate with dic- 
tatorial power, 384 ; cf. 543, 
570, 644, 647, 658, 675. A 
shadow under Octavian,733. 

Cooptatio, what, 123, 218. 

Corcyra, occupied by Ro- 
mans, 287, 291. 

Corfinium, capital of Italian 
allies, 576. Defended against 
Csesar, 676. 



Vol- 



scianWars, 102-105. 

Corn, prices of, 338. 

Cornelia, mother of the 
Gracchi, 519. Intercedes 
with Caius, 537. Bearing 
after his death, 544. 

Cornelian laws. See Sylla. 

Cornelii, name given to slaves 
enfranchised by Sylla, 615. 

Corn-law of C. Gracchus, 537. 
Faults increased by Satur- 
uinus and Clodius, 569, 660. 
Limited by Csesar, 694. 

Corno, Monte, 0, 85. 

Corsica, wrested from Car- 
thage by Rome, 285. 

Coruncanius, first plebeian 
pontifex max., 218, 243. 

Coruncanii, envoys to Teuta, 
queen of Illyrians, 287. 

Corvi, in 1st Punic War, 270. 

Cotta, C. Aurelius (orator), 
banished, 581. 

Cotta, M. Aur., commands in 
3rd Mithridatio War, 030. 

Crassus, P. Licinius, defeat- 
ed by Perseus in Thessaly, 
460. 

Crassus, P. Licinius (Muci- 
anus), father-in-law of C. 
Gracchus, 528. General 
against Aristonicus, 529. 
Death, 530. 

Crassus, P. Licinius (orator), ^ 
indicts Q. Carbo, 546. Com- 
pared with Antonius, 567. 
Speech for Drusus, 573. 
Death, 674. 

Crassus, P. Licinius (Dives), 
joins Sylla, 604. Defeats 
Italians before Rome, 609. 
Prastor sent against Spar- 
tacus, 024. Consul with 
Pompey, 626. Jealousy, 
628. Reconciliation, ib. 
Not an accomplice of Cati- 
line, 649. Lends money to 
Csesar, 652. Visits Csesar 
at Lucca, 603. Proconsul 
of Syria, 666. Expedition 
against Parthians, and 
death, 068, seq. 

Crassus, P. Licinius, son of 
last, legate of Csesar in 
Gaul, 663. Death, 669. 

Cremona, colony there, 290. 

Creta, what, 3. 

Croton, 18. Destroyed by 
Romans, 245. 

Crustumerium, 20. 
Crusfcumine or Crustumerian 

tribe, 81. 
Cures, a Sabine city, 20, 27. 

CiirioB, and Curiones, 29. 
CHria Hostilia, 30. 
Curio, M. Scribonius, favour- 
ite of Cicero, 374. Secretly 



INDEX. 



"ibl 



■won by Oacsar, 16. Defeat 
and death in Africa, OTO. 

Curius Dentatus, M', origin 
and character, 2'25. Con- 
quest of Sabines, 76. Agra- 
rian law, -"20. His reward 
ih. Defeats Pyrrluis, 2-lG. 

Curtius, M., leaps into gulf in 
forum, IGS. Other reason for 
name of Lacus Curtius, ih. 

Cynoscephalse, battle of, -127. 

Cyzicus, siege of, C30. 



Dalmatians conquered, 471. 

Daunians, 15. 

Debtor and creditor, severe 
laws at Kome, 80. 

Decemvirate, first, 115. Ten 
tables, ih. Second, partly 
plebeian, ih. Changed cha- 
racter, IIG. Ten tables 
become twelve, ih. War 
with Sabines ; Sicclus Den- 
tatus, 117. War with 
jEquians ; Virginia, 117, 
seq. Fall of decemvirs, 119. 

Decemviri. See Duumviri. 

Decius JubeUius, captain of 
Campanians, 240. Seizes 
Khegium, 241, 245. Sub- 
mits to Rome, 250, 

Decius Magius, opposes Han- 
nibal at Capua, i317. 

Decius Mus, P. (I.), saves 
army of Cossus in 1st Sam- 
nite War, ISl. Devotes 
himself to Dii inferi, ISG, 
1S9. 

Decius Mus, P. (II.), in 8rd 
Samnite War, 211. Censor 
with Fabius ; reforms, 223. 

Decius Mus, 1*. (III.), com- 
mands against Pyrrhus, 244. 

Decurise and Decurions of 
senate, SO. 

Decurions, Italian, £53. 

Delos, free port, 4G9. Entre- 
pot of slave-trade, 498. 

Delphi, oracle of, consulted 
by Tarquin, CO. By senate 
in Veientine War, 139 ; in 
2nd Punic War, 310. 

Demetrius of Pliaros, minister 
of Teuta, 2S7. Betrays her, 
made chief of Corcyra by 
Rome, ib. Betrays Romans 
to Philip, 291. Philip's min- 
ister, 418. Death, 421. 

Demetrius Poliorcetes, loses 
Syria, 413. Becomes king 
of Macedon, 414. 

Demetrius, son of Philip, 
mission to Rome, 457. En- 
couraged to set his father at 
naught, 458. Cruel death. 



Democracy at Rome, 50G. 
Violence after the death of 
Ti. Gracchus, 530. 

Dentatus, Siccius, 117. 

Depontimi, who, 47. 

Dictator, power of, C7. Nu- 
merous after Licinian laws, 
170, 384. First plebeian, 
170. Great number of be- 
fore Samnite Wars, 384. 

Direus, leads violent party in 
Achaaan League, 477. De- 
fends Corinth, 478. 

Diminutio capitis, what, 127. 

Dionysius of Syracuse, 228. 
Struggles with Carthagini- 
ans, 204. 

Diophanes, preceptor of Ti. 
Gracchus, 519. Death, 628. 

Dolabella, P. Cornelius, son- 
in-law of Cicero, beaten in 
lUyria, 078. Proposes abo- 
lition of debts, 089. Consul, 
704. Slays Trebonius in 
Asia, 715. Death, ih. 

Domitius Ahenobarbus, L., 
threatens to recall Cresar, 
GOO. Holds Corfinium 
against Csesar, 070. Com- 
plaints of Pompey, 679. 
Insolence, 083. Death, 085. 

Domus, what, 114. 

Drama at Rome, its origin, 
404. Decay, 739. 

Drepiinum, loss of Roman 
fleet there, 277. 

Drusus, M. Livius, employed 
to outbid C. Gracchus, 541. 

Drusus, M. Livius, son of last, 
character, 572. Elected tri- 
bune through Scaurus, 573. 
Plan to reform law-courts, 
ih. To enfranchise Italians, 
ib. Assassination, 574. 

Duilius, 0., defeats Cartha- 
ginian fleet otf Mylaj, 270. 

Duilius, M., leader of plebe- 
ians in 2nd secession, 119. 
Moderate counsels, 122. 

Duumviri, keepers of Sibyl- 
line books, GO. Replaced 
by decemviri, 159. 

Duumviri navdles, who, 234. 

Duumviri of Italian towns, 
2.58. 

Dyrrhachium, struggle be- 
tween Caesar and Pompey 
at, 681. 



E. 

Ebro, boundary of Cartha- 
ginian dominion in Spain, 



Eclipse before battle of Pydna, 
foretold by Sulp. GaUus,403. 
Ecnomus, great sea - fight 
Demetrius, king of Syria, 470. j there, won by Regulus, 271. 



EUNU8. 

Education at Rome, 730, 740. 
How used by Scrtorius, 
022. 

Egypt, its condition at end of 
tlie Punic Wars, 413. 

Elephants, first seen by Ro- 
mans, 241. Number taken 
in first Punic War, 275. 

Emeriti, who, 375. 

Emissarium or Tunnel of 
Alban lake, 139. Of Fu- 
cino lake, ib. Cf.. 410. 

Emporium or -ife, 319. Scipio 
lands there, 352. Cato de- 
feats Spaniards there, 444. 

Engineering, Roman, 410. 

Enna, in Sicily, 328. Centre 
of the Slave War, 499. Of- 
fering there to Ceres, 501. 

Ennius, Q., poet, 400. Epi- 
taph, ib. Use of Greek 
liexameter, 509. Annals, 
510. 

Epaphroditus, Greek for Fe- 
lix, Sylla's surname, Oil. 

Epicydes and Hippocrates, 
agents of Hannibal at Syra- 
cuse, 320. At Leoutini, 
327. Death of Hippocrates 
and flight of Epicydes, 329. 
Epicydes heads Carthagini- 
ans against Marcellus, 330. 

Epidaurus, sends sacred 
snake to Rome, 227. 

Epirots, assist Perseus against 
Rome, 461. Vengeance upon 
them, 404. Epirus a Ro- 
man province, 480. 

Equites, of Romulus, 30. 
Doubled by TuUus and 
again by Tarquinius Pris- 
cus, 44. Tripled by Ser.. 
Tins, 48. How created by C. 
Gracchus, 504, seq. Change 
in character of, 504. Ceii- 
sus of, ih. See Judices. 

Ergastida, what, 91, 499. 

Etruria, divided by Ciminian 
hills, 86, 207. 

Etruscan art, 407. 

Etruscans, early history, 10. 
Origin, 17. Language, ih. 
Endeavour to restore Tar- 
quins, C4, G5, SO. Threaten 
Rome, 102. Confederacy, 
137. War at time of Ta- 
rentine War, 239, 243 Sub- 
mit to Rome, 250. Strong- 
hold of Italian party, 600, 
012 : cf. 3.59, 520, 589. 

Eumenes II., of Pergamus, 
rewarded after Syrian War, 
440. Accuses Perseus be- 
fore senate, 450. Life at- 
tempted by Perseus, ih. 
Supports Crassus in Thes- 
saly, 460. Death and cha- 
acter, 409. 

Eunus (Ewouf), made king 



758 



INDEX. 



by insurgents of Sicily, 
499, 500. Death, 501. 
Evander, 22. Legend of set- 
tlement on Palatine, 25. 



I". 

Fabii, their seven consulships, 
98, 108. Fabii and Veien- 
tines, 108, 109. A Sabine 
Gens, 109. Etruscan con- 
nexions, 407. 

Fabius Buteo, Q., embassy 
about Saguntum, 294. Dic- 
tator, iills up senate, 320. 
Kule of proceeding, 3T6. 

Fabius Pictor, C, first Roman 
painter, 407. 

Fabius Pictor, Q., consults 
oracle at Delphi, 310. First 
prose-writer at Eome, 406. 

Fabius Maximus, Q. (Rulli 
anus), chief in 2nd Samnite 
War, 201. Quarrel with 
Papirius Cursor, ib. De- 
feated at Lautulae, 206. 
Conquers Vulsinians, 208. 
Consul, 212. Censor with 
Decius ; reforms, 223. 

Fabius Maximus, Q. (Cuncta- 
tor), dictatorj 308 - 310. 
Chief and" Shield of Eome" 
after Cannre, 322. Over- 
rules consular elections, 824. 
Legate to son, 325. • Recov- 
ers Tarentum, 342. Op- 
poses Scipio, 360. Death, 
305. 

Fabius Maximus, Q. (AUo- 
brogicus), successes 
Gaul, 547. 

Fabrateria, 196. 

Fabricius Luscinus, C, consul, 
defeats Lucanians, 234. His 
embassy to Pyrrhus, 243. 

Falernian vineyards, 190. 

Families at Rome, what, 41 

Fannius Strabo, C, consul, 
540. Speaks against his 
patron, C. Gracchus, 541. 

Fanum Foltumnce, meeting- 
place of Etruscans, 138. 

Fasti. See Calendar. 

Father and children, 125. 
Power of father, 400. 

Favonius, M., at Pharsalia, 
683. Devotion to Pompey, 
685. 

Fescennine verses, 404. 

Fetiales, 37. 

Fidense destroyed, 138. 

Fimbria, C. Flavins, active 
in massacre of Marius, 591, 
598. Murders Valerius 
Flaccus and leads army into 
Asia, 598. Suicide, 600. 

Financial measures in 2nd 

Punic War, 338, seq. 
Flainens, 31, 40. 



Plaminius, C, Agrarian law, 
288. Invades Insubrian 
territory, 290. Contempt 
of senate, ib. Character, 
305. Defeated and slain at 
Trasimene, 307, 

Flaminlnus, T., sedileship. 
422. Consul at thirty, 424. 
Commands in 2nd Mace- 
donian War, ib. Defeats 
Philip, 425. Pacifies Epirus, 
ib. Seizes Anticyra and 
besieges Elateia, lb. Brings 
over Achsean League, 425. 
Interview with Philip, ib. 
2nd campaign, 426. Battle 
of CynoscephalBB, 427. Of- 
fers terms to Philip, 428, 
Proclaims liberty of Greece, 
ib. Message to Antiochus, 
429. Leads Aohseans 
gainst Nabis, ib. Policy 
in Greece, 430. Triumph, 
431. Saves jEtolians, 436, 
439. Demands surrender 
of Hannibal, 453. 

Flaminlnus, L., commands 
fleet, 424. Operations in 
Greece, 425. Profligate 
cruelty, 449. Punished by 
Cato, 454. 

Flavins, Cn., agent of App. 
Claudius Csecus, 221. 

Fcenus unciarium, 125. Se- 
miunciarium, 169. Inte- 
rest abolished, 183. 

Foreigners, not regarded as 
having any rights, 402. 

Formi», 187. Vineyards of, 
191, 253. 

Fortuna Muliebris and Virl- 
lis, temples of, 105. 

Forum Boarium, 54. 

Forum Momanwin, plan of, 54. 

Fratres Arvales, who, 403. 

Freedmen, take place of 
clients, 124. Form party 
in state, 219. Confined to 
four city tribes, ib. Distri- 
buted by App. Claudius 
Caecus, 221. Again thrown 
into four, 223. Place and 
influence, 399. 

Fregellse, taken by Samnites, 
180. Roman colony, 196. 
Taken again bv Samnites, 
205. Reestablished, 206. 
Taken by Pyrrhus, 243. 
Revolts, 535. Treatment 
by Opimius, ib. 

Frentanians, 16, 179. Allies 
of Rome, 208. 

Fucine lake, 85. 

Fulvia, vengeance on Cicero, 
713. Excites war against 
Octavian, 721. Death, 722. 

Fulvius Flaccus, M., friend of 
Ti. Gracchus, 525. Consul, 
bill for enfranchising Ita- 



lians, 535. Sent to Mas- 
silia, ib. Tribune with C. 
Gracchus, 540. Excites 
Gracchus to resist, 543. 
Death, 544. 

Fulvius Flaccus, Q., one of 
Fabian party in 2nd Punic 
War, 322. Consulships, 
323. Blo'ckades Capua, 331. 
Punishment of the Capu- 
ans, 333. Dictator, 341. 

Fulvius Nobilior, M., besieges 
Ambracia, 439. Consul in 
Spain, 473. 

FurcQlse Caudlnse, 203. De- 
feat of Romans, 203, 205. 

Furius Bibaculus, poet, 744. 

G. 

Gabinius, Au., author of law 
to invest Pompey with 
power over Mediterranean, 
634. Proconsul of Syria, 
685. Death, 689. 

Galatians, who, 414, 439. Con- 
quest of, 439. 

Galba, P. Sulpicius, com- 
mands in 1st Macedonian 
War, 420. In 2nd, 422. lU 
success, 424. 

Galba, Serg., treatment of the 
Lusitanians, 473. 

Gallaicians (Gallicians), 443. 

Gallia Braccala and Togata, 
288. 

Gates of Rome, 53. 

Gaul, Cisalpine, 11. Irriga- 
tion of, ib. 

Gauls, burn Rome, 143, seq. 
Of Gaelic race, 145. Phy- 
sical characteristics, t6. 
Legendary history of inva- 
sion, 146, seq. Victory of 
Alia, 147. Occupation of 
Rome, 148, seq. Falseness 
of Roman legend, 149. 
2nd and 3rd invasions, 150. 
Senonians on coast of Um- 
bria, 210. In 3rd Samnite 
War, 212, seq, Aid Etrus- 
cans, 233. Annihilated, ib. 
Boians defeated, 234. War 
of 225 U.C., 289. Victory 
of Telamon, ih. Conquest 
of Insubrians, 290. Burn 
Delphi and settle in Asia 
Minor, 415. First assault 
upon Gauls of Southern 
France, 470. Movement 
in tribes on Rhone, 656. 
Cfesar's government of, ib. 
His campaigns in Gaul, 661, 
seq., 669, seq. Franchise 
to Transpadane Gauls, 678, 
695. 

Gaurus, mount, battle of, 181. 

Gellius Egnatius, Samnite 
chief, 212. 



INDEX. 



759 



Gelon of Syracuse, 102. De 
leats Etruscan and (Jartha- 
giuian fleets, -"21), '2Go. 

Gentes, what, 41. Their spe- 
cial sacred rites, 109, 14S. 

Genthius conquered, ■iU'J. 

GeMlles, who, -11. 

Genucian laws, 183. 

Genucius, attacks the patri- 
cians, 99. Murdered, ib. 

Gisgo, seized hy mercenaries, 
283. Death, '.'So. 

Glabrio, M' Acilius, defeats 
Antiochus at Thermopylse, 
435. Prevented by Flami- 
ninus from crushing iEto- 
lians, 430. 

Gladiators, war of the, 6'2S,seq. 

Gladius Hispdmis, 1ST. 

Glaucia, C. Servilius, law, 566. 
PriEtor, 56S. Stands for 
consulship, 570. Death, ib. 

Oolossa, joins Romans, 4S6. 

Gracchus, Ti. Sempronius, 
consul, 320. Enlists slaves 
(volones), 323. Defeats 
Hanno, and enfranchises 
volones, '615. Death, 331. 

Gracchus, Ti. Sempronius, son 
of last, pacification of Spain, 
445. Reduces Sardinia, ib. 
Interposes for Scipio, 453. 
FaniUy, 519. 

Gracchus, Ti. Sempronius, 
son of last, at Carthage, 43S. 
QuEestor in Spain, 491. 
Early life, 519. Struck by 
desolation of Etruria, 52u. 
Tribune, ib. Reforms 

thwarted by Octavius, 522. 
Carried, 523. Appropriates 
wealth of Attains to new 
landholders, ib. Decline of 
popularity, 524. Seeks 2nd 
tribunate, ib. Murdered, 
525. Character, 526. 

Gracchus, C. Sempronius, re- 
turns from Spain, 526. 
Triumvir for executing 
Agrarian law, 523, 53u. 
Quaestor in Sardinia, 534. 
Detained two years, 5u5. 
Prosecuted for leaving, 536. 
Tribune, i 6. First measures 
vindictive, 537. Legislation, 
537, seq. Purposes and re- 
sults contracted, 539. Re- 
elected tribune, 540. Pro- 
poses to enfranchise Italian 
allies, ib. Plans for coloni- 
sation, 541. Outbid by Dru- 
sus, ib. Plants colony at 
Carthage, ib. Tumult in 
capitol, 542. War declared 
against Gracchus, i6. Flight 
and death, 543. 

Grjecia JIagna, 17. Its cities 
join Pyrriius, 241 ; and Han- 
nibal, 319, 334. 



UANNIBAL. 

Greece, commission of three 
sent to examine laws, 114 
Mention of L. Camillus by 
Aristotle, 150. Early in- 
tercourse between Greece 
and Rome, 227. Grecian 
colonies in Italy and Sicily, 
ib. Their decay, 228. Ro 
mans admitted to Isthmian 
games, 2SS. All Greece 
submits to Flamininus, 428, 
Liberty proclaimed at Isth- 
mian games, ib. A Roman 
province, 479. 



Hremus, 458. 

Hamilcar Barca, employed in 
latter part of 1st Punic 
War, 278, seq. Refuses to 
lay down arms, 280. Com 
mands against mercenaries, 
283. Indignation against 
Rome, 285. Commands in 
Spain, ib. Career in Spain, 
291, seq. Death, 292. 

Hamilcar Phamaaas, deserts 
to Scipio, 487. 

Hannibal goes to Spain at the 
age of 9 years, 291. Oath, 
ib. Takes command at 
death of Hasdrubal, 292. 
Conquest in Spain, 293. 
Besieges Saguntum, ib. 
Qualities for command, 294. 
Expedition against Italy, 
297. Turns Pyrenees, 21,8. 
Crosses Rhone, 21:9. Passes 
Alps, 301, seq. Defeats Ro- 
man cavalry, 303. AVins 
battle of Trebia, 305. Wins 
battle of Trasimene, 307. 
In Campania, 3U9. Winters 
in Apulia, ib. At Cannse, 
313. Declines to march 
npon Rome, 315. Cruelty, 

316. Received at Capua, 

317. Repulsed by Mar- 
cellus at Nola, 318. Takes 
Casilinnm, ib. Wintei's at 
Capua, ib. Camp on Mt. 
Tifata, 323. Winters at 
Arpi, 324 Takes Taren- 
tum, 331. March on Rome, 
332, seq. Puts up shops in 
forum to sale, 333. Retires 
into Brnttii, ib. Saying over 
body of ilarcellus, 343. 
Learns death of Hasdrubal, 
343. Ordered home, 364. 
Lands at Leptis, 365. Meets 
Scipio at Zama, ib. Defeat, 
366. Compels Carthagini- 
ans to make peace, 367. 
Reforms, 433. Compelled 
to leave Carthage, ib. Re- 
sorts to Antiochus, ib. Ad- 
vice frustrated, 434. Opi- 



IAPTDE8. 

nion on invasion of Greece, 
435. Flight after battle of 
Magnesia, and death, 4153. 

Hasdrubal, succeeds Hamilcar 
in Spain, 292. Treaty with 
Rome, ib. Assassinated, ib. 

Hasdrubal (brother of Han- 
nibal), commands in Spain, 
298. Attacked by Scipios, 
319. Prepares to march 
into Italy, 343. Winters in 
Gaul, 344. Crosses Alps, 
345. Meets Romans in 
Umbria, 347. Retreats, ib. 
Defeat and death, 34S. 

Hasdrubal (son of Gisgo), 
deals with Syphax, 356. 
Bribes him, 359. Army 
cut otf by Scipio, 362. Op- 
poses Hannibal, 367. 

Hasdrubal, commandant of 
Carthaginians, 487. Bar- 
barity, 438. Submits to 
Scipio, 439. 

Hastdii, who, 188. 

Helmantice taken, 293. 

HeraclSa, battle of, 240. 

Heraclides, 421. 

Herdonea, two Roman armies 
cut off there, 332, 340. 

Hereditary succession, 38. 

Herennius, advice after battle 
of Furculffi Caudinse, 203. 

Hernici, 85, 110. 

Hioro I., of Syracuse, 229. 

Hiero II., 229, 265. Attacks 
Mamertines, 265. Defeated, 
266. Alliance with Rome, 
268. Dies, 320. Sei-vices 
to Rome, ib. Picture of 
battle of Messana, 407. 

Hieronymus, son of Hiero II., 
assassinated, 327. 

Hippocrates. See Epicydes. 

Hirtius, Au., acts against An- 
tony, 70S. Consul, 709. De- 
feats Antony near Mutina, 
710. Killed, ib. 

Historians, Roman, earliest, 
406. Before Gracchi, 516. 
After Gracchi, 737. 

History of Rome, extent of, 1. 

Horatii and Curiatii, 34. 

Horatius Barbatus, M., con- 
sul, 120. 

Horatius Codes, 65. 

Horatius, M., 65. 

Horatius Flaccus, Q., poet, a 
tribune at Philippi, TIG. 
Account of, 745, seq. 

Hortensian laws, 226. 

Hortensius, Q., promotes Ci- 
cero's recall, 663. His ora- 
tory, 735. 

Husband and wife, 400. 

Hyrcanus, 687. 



lapj'des, 531. 



I. 



760 



INDEX. 



Icilian law, for dividing the 
Aventine, 114. 

Ilia. See Silvia. 

Illyrians, 286. War to check 
piracy, 2ST. Conquered by 
Philip v., 4-21. Treat with 
Perseus, 462. Conquered 
by Anicius, ib. Illyria a 
Eoman province, 480. 

Insula, what, 114. 

Insubrian Gauls conquered, 
290. Welcome Hannibal, 
303. Subdued, 441. 

Interamna, colony, 206. 

Intercession of tribunes, 94, 
98. 

Interest. See Foemis. 

Tnterreges, Interregnum, 30. 

Ipsus, battle of, 413. 

Isola sacra, 22T. 

Isthmian games, Romans ad- 
mitted there, 288. 

Istrians, reduced by Marcel- 
lus, 445. 

Italiotes, 22T. 

Italian allies, 258. Service 
required of them, 392. Dis- 
like Agrarian law of Grac- 
chus, 531. Take Scipio for 
leader, 529, 531. Ordered 
to quit Rome, 534. Fulvian 
law of franchise, 535. C. 
Gracchus takes up their 
cause, 540. Again disap- 
pointed, 541. Encouraged 
by Marius and Saturninus, 
569. Attempt of Drusus 
to enfranchise, 5T3. Exas- 
peration increased by Va- 
rian law, 5T5. Social War, 
ib. Measures taken by 
Italians, 576. Franchise 
granted in part, 57T. Bit- 
terness of contest, 578. 
Eight allied nations reduced 
to four, 580. Total losses 
in war, ib. Plotian and 
Papirian law, ib. New 
citizens enrolled in ten 
tribes, 581. Distributed 
into all tribes by Sulpicius, 
583. Transfer command 
from Sylla to Marius, 5S4. 
Oinna heads them, 588. 
Renews the Social War, ib. 
Depopulation of Italy, 615. 
Miserable condition after 
Civil Wars, 733. 

Italy, extent, 2. Structure, 
2-6. Geography, 6-13. Uni- 
ted only under Rome, 14. 
Name, 15. Limits, 15, 251. 
Six nations of, 15. Sub- 
jected to Rome, 250, seg." 
Government and condition, 
251, 258. Stability of Ro- 
man system, 257, seq. 
Southern Italy favours Han- 
nibal, 317. 



L^LipS. 



J. 

Janiciilum fortified, 37. 

Janus, 31. Janus and Janua, 
109. Temple closed after 
1st Punic War, 286. By 
Octavian, 730. 

Jerusalem taken, 637. 

Jews rise against Syrians, are 
reduced, 470. War against 
Antiochus, ib. Affection 
for Caesar, 690. Antony 
makes Herod king, 725. 

Juba defeats Curio, 679. 
Strange death, 691. 

Judices or Jurymen, how fur- 
nished, 538. Attempt of 
Ceepio to restore power to 
senate, 566. Purity tested 
by remarkable trials, 572. 
Attempt of Drusus stopped 
by his murder, 574. Judi 
cial power restored to se 
nate by Sylla, 616. Abuse 
of, 626. Aurelian law for 
reforming the courts, ib. 

Jugurtha, 548. Bribes sena- 
tors, ib. Puts Adherbal 
to death, 549. Comes to 
Rome under safe conduct, 
ib. Driven to extremities 
by Metellus, 551. Flies to 
Mauritania, 552, 554. Given 
up by Bocchus, 554. Mise- 
rable end, 555. 

July, Quintilis, 698, 707. 

Jupiter Latiaris, 23, 84. Fe- 
retrius, 26. Stator, 27. 

Jura: see Rights. Jus La- 
ta : see Latinitas. 

Justitium, 583. 



Kings, their history, 74. 
Knights : see Equites. 



Laberius, Dec, Mimes of, 
740. His disgrace, ib. 

Labienus, T., joins Pompey, 
676. Flies to Africa, 689. 
Escapes to Spain, 691, 693. 
Death, 694. 

Labienus, Q. (Parthicus), 
general of Parthians, 721. 
Overruns Asia Minor, ib. 
Defeated and slain, 723. 

Laalius, C, friend of Scipio 
Africanus, 358. Disap- 
pointed of command in 
Syria, 437. Restores Pla- 
centia and Cremona, 441. 

Lselius, C, son of last, com- 
mands fleet at Carthage, 
488. Forces his way into 



town, 489. Conduct after 

death of Ti. Gracchus, 528. 

Language, Latin, how formed, 

18, 19. Condition at close 
of 1st Punic War, 402. 
Corrupted by Greek, 403. 

Lar or Lars, what, 137. 

Latin colonies, origin, 254. 
Number, 255. Rights, 256. 
Twelve refuse to furnish 
soldiers, 341. Punished, 
360. 

Latinitas or Jus Latii, what, 
256. Extended to Gauls of 
Italy, 580. 

Latins, origin, 18. Of Alba, 
conquered, 35. Of sea-coast, 
conquered, 37. Subjects of 
Rome after Latin War, 193. 
Latin communities, ib. 

Latin league, 110. Broken 
up, 174. Again formed, 
175. Again broken after 
1st Samnite War, 185, seq. 
War, 186-190. 

Latium, early inhabitants and 
language, 18, 19. Compari- 
son of Latins and English, 

19, 20. Settlement after 
Latin War, 191, seq. 

Lautulae, pass of, 182. Ro- 
mans defeated there, 206. 

Law, study of, at Rome, 516. 

Legdti Coesaris, who, 734. 

Legends, Roman, nature of, 
70, seq. Change under pa- 
tricians, 78. Reasons, 163. 
Plebeian legends, 165. 

Legion of Romulus, 30. 

Lentulus, M. Cornelius (Sura), 
Catilinarian, 646. Death, 
648. 

Lentillus, P. Corn. (Spinther), 
consul, promotes Cicero's 
recall, 664. Ordered to re- 
store Ptolemy Auletes, 665. 
Pretensions at Pharsalia, 
683. 

Leontini taken, 327. 

Lepidus, M. JEmilius, remon- 
strates with Philip, 422. 
JEmilian road, 442. 

Lepidus, M. JEmilius, consul 
against Sylla' s will, 620. 
Defeat and death, 621. 

Lepidus, M. jEmilius, son of 
last, prsefectus urbis, 678. 
Names Csesar dictator, ib. 
Commands troops during 
Caesar's murder, 704. Go- 
vernor of Narbonese Gaul, 
TIO. Joins Antony, 711. 
Triumvir, 712. Ruler of 
Africa, 720, 722. Joins in 
war against SextPompeius, 
724. Loses triumvirate, ib. 

Lex Annulis, 487. 

Liber tini, Liberti, 124. 

Library, first public, 696. 



INDEX. 



fGl 



Libn Lintei, what, 102. 

Libya, province of, 41)0. 

Liciiiian rogations, 150. Ob- 
ject, 157. Opposition of 
patricians, 15S. Carried, 
100. Evasion of Agrarian 
law, 109. Renewed by Ti, 
Gracchus, 520. 

Licinius Macer, C, 738. 

Ligarius, Q., conspirator 
against Csesar, 700. 

Ligurians, wars with, 441. 
In Gaul, 470. 

LUybaaum, besieged by Pyr- 
rlius, "246. Taken by Ko- 
mans, 27S, seq. 

Livia, taken from her hus- 
band by Octavian, 720. 

Livius Andronicus, M., first 
dramatist at Rome, 404. 

Livius, M., commandant at 
Tarcntuni, 025. Surprised 
by Hannibal, 331. 

LiviuG Sallnator, M., consul, 
chosen second time to op- 
pose Hasdrubal, 344. Sta- 
tioned at Sena Gallica, S46. 
Commands at battle of Me- 
taurus, 347. Triumph, 349. 

Loan, voluntary, in 2nd Punic 
\Yar, 339. Repaid, 300. 

Locri, in Magna Grsecia, joins 
Pyrrhus, 241. Taken by 
Romans, 245. Pyrrhus, 240. 

LocupUtes, v^rho, 47. 

Luca (Lucca'), colony, 442. 

Lucanians, 16, 179. Take 
part in 2nd Sanmite War, 
109. Attack Thurii, 232. 
Rome declares war against 
them, ib. Submit, 249. 
Join Hannibal, 317. 

Luceres, who, 30. Inferior 
position, 39. Raised by 
Tarquinius Prisons, 40. 

Luceria, taken by Q. Fabius, 
202. Defies Hannibal, 303. 

Lucilius, C, satirist, 515. 

Lucretia, rape of, 01. 

Lucretius Carus, T., poet, 741, 
seq. ; comp. 510. 

Lucrine lake, Ctesar's pla-n for 
liarbour, 095. Executed by 
Agrippa, 728. 

Lueullus, L. Licinius, treach- 
ery in Spain, 473. 

Lncullus, L. Licinius, grand- 
son of last, serves in 
Greece, 597. Allows Mi- 
thridates to escape, 599. 
Defeats Us fleet at Tenedos, 
ib. Left to levy money in 
Asia, 000. Commands in 
3rd Mithridatic War, 030. 
Successes, 030, seq. Mild 
administration in Asia, 632. 
Enters Armenia, ib. Oblig- 
ed by his soldiers to return, 
633. Superseded, 636. 



MAECELLUS. 

LucuUus, M., brother of last, 
cuts off Spartacus, 025, 

LCicwmo, what, 29, 39. 

LiuU Apollinurcs, 334. 

Lusitanians, 443. 

Lycortas, chief of Achjean 
League, 40S. 



M. 

Maccabffius, Judas, 470. 

Maoedon, condition after Pu 
nic Wars, 414. Divided 
Into four republics, 409 
Province, 4S0. 

Macedonian War, first, 420, 
seq. Second, 422. Third, 
450, seq. Fourth, 477. 

Maecenas, C. Cilnius, ances- 
tors, 210. Restores Virgil's 
patrimony, 720. Minister 
of Octavian, 720. 

Mselius, Sp., distributes corn, 
134. Slain, ib. ; cf. 395. 

MsBnius, tribune, extends tri- 
bunieian power, 98. 

Mago, 202. 

Mago, brother of Hannibal, 
follows him into Italy, 298. 
Mission to Carthage, 318. 
Escapes to Balearic Isles, 
358. In Liguria, 364. Dies, 
ib. 

Maharbal, 298, 313. Advice 
after Cannas, 315. 

Malaria, causes of, S3, seq. 

Mamers, a Sabine god, 178. 

Mamertines, name for Sam- 
nite mercenaries, 230. 
Seize Messana, ib. Cause 
of 1st Punic War, 265. 

Manclnus, An. Hostilus, ill 
success against Perseus, 401 . 

Manclnus, C. Host., defeat by 
Numantians, and treaty, 
402, seq. 

Manc'vpas, who, 393. 

Manilian law, gives Pompey 
the East, 635. 

Manilius, M., consul in third 
Punic War, 4S3-487. 

Manlius Torquatus, T., battle 
with a Gaul, and name, 150. 
Consul in Latin War, ISO. 

Manlius Torquatus, T., rejects 
message from Hannibal, 
315. Reduces Sardinia, 320. 

Manlius Vulso, Cn., evil of 
his wars in Asia, 439, seq. 

Manlius CapitolTnus, M,, saves 
capitol, 143. Popular cham- 
pion, 154. Trials and death, 
ib. Motives, 155 ; cf. 395. 

Mantua, Etruscan origin of,17. 

Marcellus, M. Claudius, gains 
Spolia OpTma by killing 
Viridomarus, 290. Sent to 
Casilinum after Cannre, 317. 
Repulses Hannibal at Nola, 



MASINISSA. 

318. " Sword of Rome," 
322. Repulses Hannibal 
again at Nola, 324. Takes 
Leontini, 327. Besieges 
Syracuse, ib. Takes Hexa- 
pylum, sheds tears over 
Syracuse, 329. Admitted by 
treachery into Achradina, 
ib. Ovation, 330. Pation 
of Sicily, 338. Death, 143. 

Marches, rapid, 347, 353. 

Marcius Rutilus, C, first ple- 
beian dictater and censor, 
170. Engaged in 2nd Sam- 
nite War, 201. 

Marius, C, early life, 550. 
Accompanies Metellus to 
Africa, 551. Attacks Me- 
tellus, 552. Seeks consul- 
ship, ib. Assumes com- 
mand, 553. Sends Sylla to 
Bocchus, .'554. Triumph, 
ib. Consul 2nd time, 555. 
Preparations for Cimbrian 
War, 558. Consul 3rd and 
4th time, ib. Camp near 
Aries, 559. Allows Teu- 
tons to pass, ib. Supersti- 
tion, ib. Battle near Aix, 
500. Consul 5th time, ib. 
Joins Catulus in Italy, 501. 
Battle of Vercellse, ib. Ge- 
nerosity, 561, 502. Political 
position, 507. Stands for 
6th consulship, 508. League 
with Saturninus and ruse 
to entrap Metellus, 509. 
Takes up arms against Sa- 
turninus, 570. Political 
weakn-ess, 571. Visits Mi- 
thridates, ib. Gains little 
credit in Social War, 877. 
Intrigues to procure com- 
mand against Mithridates, 
582, seq. Attacked by Sylla, 
585. Adventures in escap- 
ing, 586, seq. Returns, 5S9. 
Enters Rome, 590. Mas- 
sacres, 591. 7th consul- 
ship, 592. Death, ib. 

Marius, C, son of last, escapes 
to Africa, 580, 587, Made 
consul, takes his station at 
Praeneste, 600. Defeated at 
Sacriportus, ib. Death, 009. 

Maroneians, massacre of, 457. 

Marriage. See Connubium, 
Matrimonium, Con/arre- 
atio, Husband. 

Marrucinians, 10, 178, 208. 

Mars Gradivus, 31. 

Marshes of Tuscany, 11. 

Marsian War, 570. 

Marsians, 10, ITS. Submit 
and become allies, 208. 

Masinissa, negotiates with 
Romans in Spain, 355, 357. 
Chief of Numidia, 359. 
Flies, ib. Dispossesses Sy- 



i62 



INDEX. 



phas, 362, seq. Dealings 
with Sophonisba, 363. King 
of Numidia, ib. Encroach- 
ments upon Carthage, 4S1. 
Defeats Carthaginians In 
presence of Scipio, 482. 
Hangs back, 485. Death, 
486. 

Massicus, Mons, 190. 

Massilia, allied \yith Rome, 
299. Assisted by Rome, 
535. Submits to Caesar, 

. 6T8. 

Mastama, 46, 77. 

Matese, mount, 178. 

Matho, leads Carthaginian in- 
surgents, 283. Brutality 
and death, 28.5. 

Matronalia, -what, 27. 

MatrimOnium, what, 399. 

Mediolanum taken, 290. 

Memmius, C, tribune, in- 
quires into senatorial cor- 
ruption, 549. Saves Jugur- 
tha, ib. Death, 570. 

Menas, his traitorous advice 
to Sext. Pompeius, 722. 

Menenius Agrippa, fable of 
belly and members, 93. 

Mercenaries of Carthage, re- 
volt, 283. War ended, 285. 

Meric, 329. Deserts to Ro- 
mans, 330. 

Messalla, M. Valerius, legate 
of Brutus at PhUippi, 716. 
Defeats Octavian, 717. 
Submits to Antony, 718. 

Messana occupied by Mamer- 
tines, 230. Demands aid 
of Rome, 265. 

Messapians, 15. Submit to 
Rome, 250. 

Metapontum opens gates to 
Hannibal, 332. 

Metaurus, battle of, 347, seq. 

Metayers, what, 506. 

Metelli, 405. Eminence, 546. 

Metellus, L., Ceecilius, de- 
feats Carthaginians, 275. 
Captures 120 elephants, ib. 
Coins of, ib. 

Metellus, Q. Csecilius (Mace- 
donicus), defeats Pseudo- 
Philippus, 477. Marches 
against Achseans, 478. Su- 
perseded, ib. In Spain, 491. 
Death and honours, 546. 

Metellus, Q. Csecilius (Numi- 
dicus), commands against 
Jugurtha, 550. Two suc- 
cessfnl campaigns, 551, seq. 
Jealousy of Marius, 551. 
Who supersedes him, 553. 
Reception at Rome, ib. 
Joins conservative party, 
566. Banished, 569. Noble 
conduct, ib. Triumphant 
return, 571. 

Metellus, Q. Cfficilius (Pius), 



MITHRIDATIO. 

571. Proconsul in Sam- 
nium, 589. Endeavours to 
raise siege of Rome, 590. 
Joins Sylla, 604. Consul 
with Sylla, 617. Sent to 
check Sertorius, 618, 621, 
seq. Pontifex max. , death, 
645. 

Metellus, Q. Csecilius (Creti- 
cus), commands against 
Cretans, 634. Triumph, 
635. 

Metellus, Q. Csecilius (Celer), 
leads senatorial party, 653. 

Metellus, Q. Csecilius (Nepos), 
opposes Cicero, 652. Bill 
in favour of Pompey, ib. 
Consul, 664. 

Metellus, L., son of Creticus, 
shuts treasury against Cse- 
sar, 677. 

Metellus Scipio, aids Pompey 
in Syria, 682. Arrogant 
claims, 683. Escapes to Af- 
rica, 689. Death, 691. 

Mettus Curtius, 27. 

Mettus Fufifetius, dictator of 
Alba, 84-36. 

Micipsa, son of Masinissa, 
king of Numidia, 486, 548. 

Milo, 235, 245, 246, 248. 

Milo, T. Annius, raises troop 
of gladiators, 664. Kills 
Clodius, 671. Retires to 
Marseilles, 672. 

Mimes, Roman, 740. 

Minucius, L., prsefectus an- 
nonse, 134, 135. 

Minucius Rufus, M., master 
of horse under Fabius, 308. 
Partial success, 310. Saved 
by Fabius, ib. 

Mithridates, his ambassadors 
insulted by Saturninus, 571. 
Himself by Marius, ib. Em- 
bassy from Italians, 578. 
Reply, 579, 594, seq. Em- 
pire, 535. Declares war, 
596. Received as deliverer 
of Asia, ib. Massacre of 
Italians, ib. Sends Arche- 
laus to Pirseus, ib. Court 
at Pergamus, ib. Nearly 
taken by Fimbria, 599. 
Peace with Sylla, ib. De- 
feats Murena, 629. Com- 
municates with Sertorius, 
622, 630. Prepares for 3rd 
war, 630. Besieges Cyzi- 
cus, ib. Beleaguered by Lu- 
cullus, ib. Flies to Armenia, 
631, seq. Defeats Triarius 
at Zela, 633. Defeated by 
Pompey, 636. Retires to 
the Crimea, ib. Death at| 
Panticapseum and burial ati 
Sinope, 638. 

Mithridatic Wars, 693, seq.A 
617, 629, 630, seq. 



Monarchy of Augustus, 732, 
733. Comparative bless- 
ings, 734. Effects on litera- 
ture, art, &c., 736, seq. 

Money, early Roman, 408. 
Diminution of As, ib. In- 
troduction of silver and 
gold, ib. 

Mucins. See Sccevola. 

Mummius, L., takes Corinth, 
478. Character, 479. 

Munda, battle of, 693. 

Municipal towns, 253, seq. 
Incorporated with Rome, 
ib. Oppose Hannibal, 326. 

Murena, L. Licinius, com- 
mands in Asia, 600. Pro- 
vokes 2nd Mithridatic War, 
617. Triumph, ib. 

Murena, L. Licinius, son of 
last, consul during Catilina- 
rian conspiracy, 646. De- 
fended by Cicero, 648. 

Murgantia, 327, 328. 

Mutin or Mutton, 330. 

Mutina, colony, 442. Battles 
there, 709, 710. 

Mylse, sea-fight at, 270. 

N. 
Nabis, joins Flamininus, 426. 

Allowed to make peace, 

429. Death, 434. 
Nsevius, Cn., poet, 404, seq. 
Names of Romans, 41. 
Narbo Marcus, 2nd Roman 

colony in G-aul, 541. 
Narnia, colony, 210. 
Neapolis, IS. Near Palse- 

polis (or Parthenope), 197. 
Nepete, colony sent to, 174. 
Nero, M. Claudius, consul, 

344. Stationed In Apulia, 

345. Intercepts Hasdru- 
bal's couriers, 346. Assists 
in winning battle of Metau- 
rus, 347. Informs Hanni- 
bal of his brother's death, 
348. Triumph, 349. 

Necffi, who, 90. 

Nicopolis in Pontus, 636. 

Nicopolis at Actium, 728. 

Niebuhr, hi^ interpretation of 
Roman legends, 74. 

Nola, occupied by Greeks, 
197. Taken, 206. Nolan 
senate send for Marcellus, 
318. Holds out after So- 
cial War, 680. Taken by 
Sylla's officers, 612. 

Numa Pompilius, 30. Reli- 
gious institutions, 30-32. 

Numantia, 473. War with, 
finished by Scipio, 494, seq. 

Numidia, 356. Division after 
death ot Masinissa, 486. 
Province, 692. 



INDEX. 



r63 



0. 

Octavia, sister of Octavian, 
marries Antony, 7".''2. For- 
saken for Cleopatra, 725. 

Oetavius, JI., tribune, op- 
poses law of Ti. Gracchus, 
5il. Deposed, 5-3. 

Oetavius, M. (G. Julias Cassar 
Octavianus), when born, 
645. Educated iu camp at 
Apollonia, 099. Heir of 
Cajsar, T05. Lands at Brun- 
dusium, 707. Executes 
Cajsar's will, ib. Champion 
of senate, 70S, 710. Defeats 
Antony at Mutina, 710. 
Suffers him to escape, ?'&. 
Suspected by Cicero, 711. 
Declares himself avenger of 
Ca>sar, ib. Triumvir with 
Antony and Lepidus, 71'2. 
Attempts to wrest Sicily 
from Sext. Pompeius, 715. 
At Philippi, 717. Keceives 
West, 720. Confiscates Ita- 
lian lands, i b. Goes to Gaul, 
721. Makes peace and en- 
ters Kome with Antony, 

• 722. Meets Sext. Pompeius 
at Misenum, ib. Breaks 
with him, 723. Defeated 
by Sextus, 724. Seduces 
army of Lepidus, ib. Pru- 
dent government, 726. Con- 
jugal licence, ib. Want of 
faith to Antony, ib. Pub- 
lishes Antony's will, 727. 
Wins battle of Actium, 728. 
Eeturns to Italy, ib. Visits 
Egypt, ib. Threefold tri- 
umph, 730. Ruler of the 
world, ib. Nature of his 
power, 732, 733. 

<Enotrians, 15. 

Ofella, Q. Lucretius, takes 
Prfeneste, 609. Put to death 
by Sylla, 013. 

Ogulnian law, 21S. 

Ogulnii, set up the image of 
the wolf and twins, 407. 

Opulia, festival of Ops, 30. 

OpTcans or Oscans, 16. 

Opimius, L., praetor, destroys 
Fregellse, 535. Refused con- 
sulship, 540. Elected, 542. 
Leads senate in assault 
upon C. Gracchus, 542, seq. 
Barbarity, 543. Prosecuted, 
but acquitted, 545. Put to 
death, 550. 

Oppius, tribune, his sumptu- 
ary law for women, 320. 

Oratory, at Rome, 516. Decay 
under the emperors, 735. 

Orestes, M. Aurelius, 477. 

Oricum occupied, 291. 

Ostia built by Ancus, 37. 



Otacilius Crassus, T., twice 

refuses consulship, 324, 337. 

Oxybians, 470. 



P. 

Pacorus, overruns Phoenicia, 

I 721. Defeated, 723. 

Pacuvius Calavius, 317. 

Pacuvius, M., poet, 513. 

Pugunulia, festival of, 32. 

\Pugi, what, 32. 

Painting, its rise at Rome, 407. 

Palcepolis. See Keapolis. 

|Panga3us, mount, gold-mines 
there, 4.56. 

Panormus taken by Romans, 
274. Battle of, 275. 

Pansa, C. Vibius, consul with 
Hirtius, 709. Surprised and 
mortally wounded by An- 
tony, 710. 

Papirius Cursor, M., 200, 
Quarrel with Q. Fabius, 201. 
Consul, 204. Dictator, 207. 

Papirius Cursor, L., 214 Sets 
up sun-dial at Rome, 409. 

Parma, colony there, 442. 

Parthenope. See Neai)olis. 

Parthians, 668. Defeat Cras 
sus, 669. Defeated by Cas 
sius, ib. Caesar's designs 
against, 699. Overrun Asia 
Minor and Phoenicia, 721 
Driven back by Ventidius, 
723. Antony' s fruitless 
campaigns, ib. 

Pastures of Samnite moun- 
tains, 178. 

Patres Conscripti, who, 63. 
Patres, Paincii, 41. Pa- 
tres Minorufii Gentium, 44. 

Patricians, 41. Gentes, 41. 
Resided chiefly in city, 8S. 
Absolute after expulsion of 
Tarquins, 89. An exclusive 
caste, 89, seq. Decrease of, 
127, 370. Seek the tribu- 
nate, 128. Their quarters 
at Rome, 396. 

Patrons and Clients, 29, 41. 

Pecidium, what, 39S. 

Pedius, Q., nephew of Cassar, 
711. Joins Octavian in 
avenging him, ib. Death, 
712. 

Pelagonia, 404. 

Pelasgian tribes in Italy, 15. 
At Rome, 22. 

Pelignians, 16, 178, 20S. 

Pelia, 464. 

Pennus, M. Junius, his alien 
law, 534. 

Pentrians, 178. 

People of the city, as opposed 
to rural population, 506. 
Meaning of a " popular 
man" at Rome, 507. 



riiiLipruB. 

Pergamus, 414. Roman pro- 
vince, 547, 593. 

Perperna, M., 621. Joins 
Sertorius in Spain, 622. 
Murders his cliief, 623. 
Taken by Pompey, ib. 

Perseus, son of Philip V., 
excites father's jealousy 
against Demetrius, * 457. 
Measures, 459. Deceived 
by Philippus, 460. Forces, 
ib. Defeats Crassus in Thes- 
saly, ib. Foils Mancinus, 
401. Retreats to Pydna, 
ib. Prepares lines on Eni- 
peus to receive Paullus, 462. 
Falls back to Pydna, ib. 
Defeated, 463. End, 466. 

Perusia, war of, excited by 
Fulvia, 721. 

Petreius, M., defeats Catiline, 
049. Defeated by Caesar in 
Spain, 678. His death, 691. 

Peucetians, 15. 

Phalanx, compared with le- 
gion, 240, At Cynosce- 
phalaa, 426. Of Antiochus, 
437. Of Perseus, 460. 

Pliarnaces, rebels, 638. Sub- 
dued by Cassar at Zela, 690. 

Pharsalia, battle of, 083, seq. 

Philip v., king of Macedon, 
letters to Hannibal inter- 
cepted, 320, 326. Treaty 
with Hannibal, 326. Sacks 
Thermon, 417. Makes 
Demetrius minister, 418. 
Treaty with Hannibal, ib. 
Activity, 420. Burns Ther- 
mon, 421. Terminates 1st 
Macedonian War, ib. As- 
sists Hannibal at Zama, t6. 
Agrees to partition Egypt 
with Antiochus, ib. In- 
vades Asia Minor, 422. 
Answer to ^milius, ib. Re- 
duces Thrace, 423. Destroys 
suburbs of Athens, ib. 
Foils Galba, 424. Driven 
from pass of Aoii s by Fla- 
mininus, ib. Interview with 
Flamininus, 425. Defeat- 
ed at Cynoscephalae, 427. 
Makes peace, 428. 'Takes 
part against Antiochus, 435, 
437. Sends his son De- 
metrius to Rome, 457. Or- 
ders his death, 458. Re- 
morse and death, ib. 

PhUippi, position of armies, 
710, seq. First battle, 717. 
Second battle, 718. 

Philippus, Q. Marcius, name, 

460. Deceives Perseus, ib. 
Commands against Perseus, 

461 . Forces pass of Tempe, 
hut retires, ib. 

Philippus, L. Marcius, leader 
of senatorial party. 573. 



764 



INDEX. 



PHILOPCEMEN. 

Philopoemen commands the 
Achaean cavalry at Sellasia, 
416. Chief of Achaean 
League, 421. Kecommends 
neutrality, 425. Death, 46S. 

Philosophers, Greek, banished 
from Eome, 4T1. Embassy 
of Athenian philosophers to 
Eoftie, 472. 

Philosophy at Rome, 749, seq. 

Phraa tes, forms alliance with 
Pompey, 636. 

Picenians, 16, 178. Submit to 
Rome, 250. 

Picentines, who, 250. 

Picus, a Latin god, 24. 

Pietos, what, 22, 400. 

Pirseeus taken by Sylla, 597. 

Pirates. See Cilidan. 

Piso, L. Calpurnius (Frugi), 
law for law courts, 538. 

Piso, friend of Catiline, 642. 

Piso, L. Calpurnius, fathei"-in- 
law of Csesar, 658; 

Placentia, colony, 290, 299. 
Repeopled by Lselius, 441. 

Plancus, L. Munatius, 710. 
Discontented with Octa- 
vian, 721. 

Plautus, T. Maccius, comic 
poet, 511, 512. 

Plebeians, 42. Admitted to 
power by Servius Tullius, 
47, seq. Misery after ex- 
pulsion of Tarquins, 87, seq. 
Obtain tribunes and sediles, 
93, 94. Elect their own 
tribunes, 100. Admitted 
to decemvirate, 115. In- 
termarry with patricians, 
129. Admitted to military 
tribunate, 132. To qua^s- 
torship and senate, 133. 
Consulate claimed for them, 
129, 157, seq. Obtained, 160. 
Admitted to both consul- 
ships, 170. To dictator- 
ship, ih. To one censorship, 
ib. To augurate and pon- 
tificate, 218. Quarters at 
Rome, 396. Land allotted 
to, ih. 

Plebi-sc'ita, obtain force of 
law by Valerio-Horatian 
law, 121. By Publilian law, 
191. 

Plehs or Plebes. See Popu- 
lus. 

Pleminius, Q., his excesses 
imputed to Scipio, 360. 

Pleuratus, joins Romans in 
2nd Macedonian War, 423. 

Po, its embankments, 10. 

Pollio, C. Asinius, founds first 
public library, 696. Hesi- 
tates between Antony and 
senate, 710. Intercedes for 
Virgil, 720. Discontected 
with Octavian, 721. 



POMPEIUS. 

Polybius sent to Rome, 468. 
Friend of Scipio the 
younger, 474. Obtains fa- 
vourable terms for Greece, 
479. 

Pomcerium, what, 25, 52. 

Pompeians, rally after Phar- 
salia,688. Defeated at Thap- 
sus, 691. Rally in Spain, 
693. Defeated at Munda, ib. 

Pompeius, Q., commands in 
Spain, 491. 

Pompeius Strabo, On., consul 
in Social War, 577, 579, 
seq. Law for enfranchising 
Transpadane Gauls, 580. 
Proconsul in Apulia, 5SS. 
Sent for by senate to raise 
siege of Rome, 589. De- 
feats the enemy, 590. 
Death, ib. 

Pompeius Magnus, Cn., son 
of last, joins Sylla, 604. De- 
feats Marians, 605. Saluted 
imperator, ib. Successes 
in Italy, Sicily, and Africa, 
612, 017. Receives name 
of Magnus, 617. Extorts 
triumph from Sylla, ib. 
Sent against Sertorius, 622, 
seq. Cuts off remnant of the 
gladiators, 0-5. Popular- 
ity, ib. Consul with Cras- 
sus, 626. Reforms, 626. 
Commands against pirates, 

635. Supersedes LueuUus, 

636. Defeats Mithridates, 
ib. Receives submission of 
Tigranes, ib. Conquers Sy- 
ria and Judaea, 637. Re- 
turns to Pontus, 638. Re- 
gulates East, ib. Returns 
to Italy, 652. Triumph, 652. 
Coldness to Cicero, 053. 
Triumvirate with Ctesar 
and Crassus, 654. Marries 
Julia, 656. Ambiguous con- 
duct, 657. Permits exile of 
Cicero, 659. Promotes his 
recall, 663. Visits Csesar at 
Lucca, 663, 666. Consul 
with Crassus, 666. Obtains 
government of Spain, ib. 
Julia dies, 667. Triumvirate 
dissolved, 669. Sole consul, 

671. Political prospects, 

672. Leaves Rome, 676. 
Leaves Italy, 677. Esti- 
mate of his conduct, 679. 
Occupies Dyrrhachium,6S0. 
Endeavours to separate 
Caesar from Antony, 682. 
Foils Caesar's attempt to 
blockade him, ib. Defeat- 
ed at Pharsalia, 684. Flight 
to Egypt, and murder, 685. 
Character, 686. 

Pompeius, Cn., eldest son of 
Pompey, 688. Escapes to 



PEIVILEGITTM. 

Africa, 689. Thence to 
Spain, 693. His end, 694. 
Pompeius, Sext., younger son 
of Pompey, at Lesbos dur- 
ing Civil War, 685. Escapes 
to north of Spain, 694. 
Master of that district, 710. 
Takes possession of Sicily 
and forms powerful navy, 
715. In vain attacked by 
Octavian, ib. Leagued with 
Antony against Octavian, 

721. Betrayed by Antony, 

722. Cuts off corn-supplies 
from Italy, ib. Received as 
partner of triumvirs, ib. 
Again betrayed, 723. De- 
feated by Agi'ippa, 724. 
Death, 725. 

Pons Sublicius, 37, 54, 65. 

Pontlfices, 31. Number, 40. 
Increased to nine, 218. 

Pontine marshes, Cajsar'splan 
for draining, 6E5. 

Pontius, C, leader in 2nd 
Samnite War, victory in 
the 3rd War, and death, 
214, seq. 

Pontius, C, of Telesia, com- 
mands Samnites, 60S. 

Popillius Ltenas, C, dictatioff 
to Antiochus, 468. 

Pojilifuga, what, 173. 

Populus, what, 29, 41, 47, 49, 
122. 

Porcius LsEca, P., 126. 

Porsenna, invasion of Rome, 
65. Real facts, SO. 

Possessures, who, 521. 

Postliminium, what, 493. 

PostuniiuSj L., his embassy 
to Tarentum, 235. 

Postumius RegiUensis, M., 
stoned to death, 135. 

Postumius Tubertus, A., 135. 

Prcefectura AnnOnce, 134. See 
Prefecture. 

Praeneste, 84. Independence, 
174. How treated after 
Latin War, 193. Head- 
quarters of young Marius, 
606. Taken by Ofella, 609, 
611. 

Prcerogativa. See Centuria. 

Praator, name given origin- 
ally to consuls, 63, 120. 
New patrician magistracy, 
160. Age of, 371. Praetors 
at close of Punic Wars, 
372. 

Prcevaricatio, wha'u, 643. 

Prefect of city, 130. 

Prefectures, 252, 253. 

Princeps Senatus, title of Oc- 
tavian, 733. 

Pnncipes, who, 188. 

Privernum, struggle against 
Eome, 196. Prefecture, 253. 

Prlvilegium, what, 125. 



INDEX. 



I6i 



PKOCONSTJLSinr. 

Proconsulship, institution of, 
IDS. Purposes and advan- 
tages, BT5. Abuse of in 
provinces, 393. 

Prolctarii, who, 4T. 

Promoiitorium HermiEum, 
200, '.'T-'. 

Promoutorium Pulcrum, 260. 

Proscription of Sylla, 611. 
Its difference from the 
massacres of llarius, 592. 

Provence, origin of name, 54S 

Provinces, 337. Sicily first 
province, 280, 337. Taxa- 
tion of, 390, 393. Mode of 
.allotment of, 539. Under 
empire, 734. 

JProvocure, different from J^^ 
pellare, 126. 

Priisias liarbours Hannibal, 
453. Congratulates senate 
after Pydna, 4G9. 

Ptolemy Soter, 413. 

Ptolemy Philadelplius, allied 
with Rome, 249, 41.3. 

Ptolemy Epiphanes, under 
protection of Rome, 413. 

Ptolemy Ceraunus aids Pyr- 
rhus, 239. Slain, 244, 414. 

Ptolemy Auletes, expelled, 

664. Spinther ordered to 
restore him not by force, 

665. Restored by Gabi- 
nius, 635. 

Publicani, who, .393. 

Public land. See Ager Pub- 
licus. 

Public opinion, almost power- 
less at Rome, 393, 509. 

Publilius Philo, Q., bis law, 
191. Engaged in 2nd Sam- 
nite War, 201. Consul, 204. 

Publilius Volero, law respect- 
ing election of tribunes, 99. 

Pudlcitia patrioia andplebeia, 
217. 

PuUarii, who, 214, 277. 

Punic Wars. First, origin of, 
265. Character of, 267. 1st 
period, 267-271. 2nd, 271- 



276. 3rd, 276-239. 

Second Punic War, 1st 
period, 296-320. 2ud, 321- 
335. 3rd, 336-349. 4th, 
350-363. 

Third Punic War, 481, seq. 

Pydna, battle of, 463. 

Pyrrhus invited to Italy by 
Tarentines, 235. Lands at 
Tarentum, 239. Defeats 
Lsevinus, 241. Proposes 
peace, 242. Advances into 
Latium, ib. 

bricius, 243. Defeats Ro- 
mans at Asculum, 244. 
Makes peace with Rome, 
t&. Sails for SicUy, 245. 
Returns to Italy, ib. Plun 



Defeated by Curius Denta- 
tus, ("6. Returns to Epirus : 
death, 247. Speech on 
leaving Italy, 260. 

Q. 

Quadrigarius, Q. Claudius, 
historian, 73S. 

Qucestires Classici, or Qures- 
tors, creation and duties, 
133. Number, ib. Age, 
371. Numbers and duties 
of quiBStors, 372. 

QuoeMures Parricidii, who, 
34, 133. 

Qitatuorviri, 258. 

Quinctius, Kseso, 106. 

Quinqueremes, first built by 
Romans, 269. 

Quinqucviri Menstlri, 169. 

Quirinal Hill, 27. 

Quirinus, Sabine name of Ro 
mulus, 27, 28. 

Quirltes, name, 27. Interpre 
tation, 75. 

R. 

Rabirius, C, defended by 
Cicero, 644. 

Jtamnes or Kamnians, 30, 39. 

Rape of Sabine women, 26. 

Rasena or Rasenna, original 
name of Etruscans, 16, 17. 

Rea. See Silvia. 

Reate, 18, 85, 177, 253. 

Regifugium, 63. 

Eegillus, lake, battle, 68. 

Regulus, M. Atilins, wins 
sea-fight at Ectiomus, 271. 
Lands in Africa, 272. Of- 
fers peace, 273. Defeated 
by Xanthippus, ib. .Em- 
bassy and death, 275. 

Religion of Rome Sabine, 400. 
Its nature and influence, 
401. In later times, 749, seq. 

Remus. See Romulus. 

Revenues of Rome, 339, seq. 

Rex Sacrorum or Sacrificu- 
lus, 63. 

Rhegium revolts, 241. Seized 
by Decius Jubellius, ib. 
Never submits to Haunibal, 
334. 

Rhodes, republic of, 414. 
Rhodians force Philip to fly 
from Asia, 422. Ill-treat- 
ment by senate, 463. 

Rhone, passage of, by Hanni- 
bal, 299, seq. 
Receives Fa- Rights of Roman citizens, 192. 
How communicated to for- 
eigners, lb. 

Roads, 409. Appian, 222. Fla 



Rome, not mentioned by any 
Greek before Aristotle, 18. 
Foundation, 25. Descrip- 
tion, 52, seq. Power under 
Tarquins, 80, seq. Position, 
81. Rebuilt irregularly 
after burning by Gauls, 153. 
Relation to Italy after con- 
quest of Peninsula, 251, seq. 
After Italian franchise, 531. 

Romulus and Remus, birth, 
24. Death of Remus, 25. 

Romulus, builds Rome, 25. 
War with Sabines, etc., 26, 
27. Death, 28. Institu- 
tions, 29, 30. Criticism of 
his sfcorj', 75. 

Rorarii, who, 188. 

Rupilius, P., finishes first 
Slave War in Sicily, 500. 
Laws for regulating Sicily, 
501. Chief of commission 
to inquire into death of Ti. 
Gracchus, 528. 

Rural population, decay of, 
506. Form strength of 
party of Gracchus, 524. 

Rutilius Rufus, P., 572. 



Sabellian tribes, 16. 

Sabines, of Cures, war with 
Rome, 26. Position of 
country, 85. Defeated by 
Valerius and Horatius, 122. 
Sabines of Reate and Ami- 
ternum, 177. Conquered 
by Curius Dentatus, 225. 

Sacra gentilieia, 35, 42. 

Sacranians, 18. 

Sacra Via, 55. 

Sacriportus, battle of, 606. 

Saguntum, 293. Taken by 
Hannibal, ib. 

Salii, 31 . 

Sallentines, 15. Attacked by 
Lucanians, 232. Submit to 
Rome, 250. 

Sallustius Crispus, C. (the 
historian), ruler of Nu- 
midia, 692. Character, ib. 
Histories, 737. 

Salvius, 563. 

Samnites, 16. Origin, 178. 
Four cantons, ib. Samnite 
Wars, first, 180, 181. Causes 
of second, 197, seq. Second 
or Great Samnite War, 
199-208. Third, 209-215. 
Fourth, 249. Hirpinian 
and Caudinian join Hanni- 
bal, 317. Resolution of, in 
Social War, 578. Oppose 
Sylla, 607. Defeated before 
Rome, 609. 
miman, a05. ^milian, 442. 1 Sardinia subdued by Rome, 
ROma Quadruta., what, 25. ) 285. Reduced by Ti. Grac- 



ders temple at Locri, 246. 'Romans, their character, 411.1 chus, " Sardi venales," 445. 



Y66 



INDEX. 



Sarslna taken, 250. 

Satire, Roman, 515. 

Satricum, colony sent to, 174. 

Saturnalia, festival of, 36. 

Saturnian hill, old name of 
capitoline, 26, 27. 

Saturnian metre, 403, 405. 

Saturninus, L. Appuleius, 
league with Marius, 568. 
Murders Nonius, ib. Tri- 
bune, lb. Banishes Metel- 
lus, 569. Corn - law, ib. 
Death, 570. 

Scaevola, C. Mucins, 66. 

Scsevola, P. Mucins, consul, 
adviser of T. Gracchus, 521. 

Scsevola, Q. Mucins, .augur, 
566. 

Scaevola, Q. Mucins, pontifex, 
566. Death, 607. 

Scaurus, M. jEmilius, charac- 
ter, 546. Heads commission 
for inquiring into corrup- 
tion, 550. Leads moderate 
party in senate, 565. At- 
tempts to restore judicial 
power to senate, 572. At- 
tacked by ultra-senatorial 
party, 574. 

Scipio, L. Cornelius Barbatus, 
sarcophagus, 211. 

Scipio, Cn. Cornelius, sent to 
Spain, 301. Successes, 319, 
334. Defeat and death, 335. 

Scipio, P. Cornelius, consul 
at Hannibal' s invasion, 299. 
Lands near Marseilles, ib. 
Returns to Italy, 301. De- 
feated on Ticinus, 303. On 
Trebia, 305. Joins brother 
in Spain, 319. Successes, 
ib. Defeat and death, 335. 

Scipio, P. Cornelius (Afriea- 
nus), son of last, said to 
have saved father on Tici- 
nus, 303. Prevents deser- 
tion after Canna;, 316. Pro- 
consul of Spain, 351. Cha- 
racter, 351, seq. Takes New 
Carthage, 353. " Conti- 
nence of Scipio," 354. De- 
clines sovereignty of Spain, 
ib. Defeats Hasdrubal, 
355. Master of all Spain 
except Grades, 356. Quells 
rebellion in Spain, 356, 357. 
Consul, 36S. Passes into 
Sicily, 359. Accused, but 
triumphantly acquitted, 
360. Lands in Africa, 361. 
Besieges Utica, ib. Cuts off 
Carthaginian and Numidian 
armies, 362. Defeats Han- 
nibal at Zama, 366. Offers 
peace, 367. Triumph, 368. 
Accompanies brother into 
Asia, 437. Proposal to 
make him dictator, 449. 
Fall in popularity, 450. 



Impeached, 452. Leaves 
Rome, i&. Rescues brother, 
453. Death and tomb, ib. 

Scipio, P. Cornelius Africanus 
(J^lmilianus), second son of 
./Emilius Paullus, 471. Edu 
cation and friendship with 
Polybius, 474. Accompa- 
nies LucuUus to Spain, 473, 
Views a battle between 
Masinissa and Carthagini- 
ans, 482. Consul in 3rd 
Punic War, 487. Active 
measures, 488, seq. Takes 
Carthage, 489. Feelings on 
viewing burning city, 490. 
Curses it, ib. ; cf. 485. Ha- 
bits, 493. Censorship, 494. 
Popularity, ib. Consul 
again for Numantian War, 
ib. Takes Numantia, 496. 
Marriage to Sempronia, 520. 
Opinion on death of Ti. 
Gracchus, 526, 529. Fa- 
vours Italians, .529. Breaks 
with populace, ib. Refused 
command against Aristoni 
cus, ib. Moves transfer of 
Agrarian powers to con- 
suls, 531. Takes part of 
Italians, ib. Death and 
charaster, 5S2. 

Scipio, L. Cornelius (Asiati- 
cus), commands against 
Antioclius, 437. Defeats 
Syrians, -438. Accounts 
called for, 452. Arrested, 
453. 

Scipio Nasica, P., " best man' 
at Rome, 361. Subdues 
Boian Gauls, 441. 

Scipio Nasica (Corculum), ac- 
companies Paullus to Tem- 
po, 462. Conquers Dalma- 
tiahs, 471. Opposes de- 
struction of Carthage, 482. 

Scipio Nasica (Serapio), joins 
oligarchs, 494. Heads op 
position to Ti. Gracchus, 
524. Leads senators to at- 
tack him, 525. Dies in ex- 
ile, 528. 

Scribffi, or Notaries, 221, 373, 

Sculpture at Rome, 407, seq. 

Secessions : first, 92, seq. Se- 
cond, 119, seq. Third, 129. 
Fourth, 160. Fifth, 182. 
Sixth, 226. _ 

Seleucus Nicator, 413. 

Sellasia, battle of, 416. 

Sempronian laws. See Grac- 
chus. 

SemproniuB Longus, Ti., con- 
sul at time of Hannibal's 
invasion, 299. Joins Scipio 
at Trebia, 304. 

Sena GaUica, 234. 

Senate, of Romulus, 29, 40. 
Decuriae of, during inter- 



regnum, 30. Opened to 
plebeians, 133. Firmness 
after battle of Trasimene, 
308. Vacancies filled, 376. 
Money qualification, ib. 
Character, ib. Powers, 377, 
seq. Increase of authority 
during Punic Wars, 384. 
Closed except to wealthy, 
448, 503. Deprived of ju- 
dicial power, 538. Made 
supreme by S.ylla, 615. 
Filled with foreigners by 
Csesar, 695. 

Senonians. See Gauls. 

Sentinum, battle of, 213. 

Septimius, murderer of Pom- 
pcy, 685, 686. 

Se2ni'montium, what, 25. 

Serranus. See Calatinus. 

Sertorius, Q., joins Cinna, 589. 
Commands at siege of Rome 
with Cinna, 590. Slaughters 
slaves, 591. Prtetor of 
Spain, 605. Leaves Spain, 
621. Plan of retiring to 
Fortunate Isles, ib. Recall 
to Spain, ib. Government, 
ib. Foils Metellus Pius 
and Pompey, 622. Com- 
municates with Mithri- 
dates, 622, 630. Murdered 
by Perperna, 623. 

Sei"vilian laws of Csepio and 
Glaucia distinguished, 666. 

Sei'vius Tulliiis, origin, 45, 
seq. Institutions, 46, seq. 
Walls, 53. Death, 56. 

Setia, colony sent to, 174. 

Ships, Roman, 269, 274, 278. 
/jSibylline books, 289, 316, 501. 

Sicanians, IS. 

Siceliotes, 227. 

Sicily, 263, seq. Disputed be- 
tween Syracuse and Cartha- 
ginians, ib. Scene of first 
Punic War, 267-281 . Ceded 
to Rome, 280. 

Siculians, 16, 18. 

SUa, wood in BruttU, 269. 

Silvia, Rea, confounded with 
Ilia, 23. 

Silvii, kings of Alba, 23. 

Slaves, few in early times at 
Rome, 218. Increase, 219, 
308. Enlisted in Hanni- 
balic War, 323. Barbarians 
natural slaves, 397, 402. 
Slaves of city and country, 
398. Condition, ib. Com- 
mon practice of enfranchis- 
ing, 399. First Slave- War 
in Sicily, 497, seq. Vast 
numbers sold after con- 
quests, 498. Slave-trade, 
ib. How employed, ib. 
Slaves of Damophilus liegin 
the war, 499. Consterna- 
tion at Rome, 500. War 



INDEX. 



7(37 



quelled by P. Kupilius, ?"&. 
Second Slave-War, 503, seq. 
Quelled by Jl' Aquillius, 
504. Attempt of Csesar to 
check slave-labour, 000. 

Social War, 575, seq. 

Sopbonisba, given to Syphax, 
359. Her fate, : 03. 

Sora taken by Samnites, ISO. 
Recovered, '200. Colony, 
20S. 

Spain, conquest by Ilamilcar, 
•29, seq. By Scipio, D4i, 
352, seq. Divided into two 
provinces, 443. Pacified by 
Ti. Gracchus, 445. Span- 
iards appeal to senate, 472. 
Outbreak of Celtiberian 
W^ar, 473. 

giparta, condition, 415. Joins 
Achsean League, 434. 

Spartacus, insurrection of, 
023, seq. 

Spams, -what, 443. 

Speadius, leader of Cartha- 
ginian insurgent mercena- 
ries, 2S3, seq. 

Spoletum defies Hannibal, 
308. 

Spolia Oplma won by Ko- 
mulus, 20. By Cossus, 138. 
By Marcellus, 290. 

Statuary. See Sculpture. 

Stipendium, 138. 

Stoic philosophy, at Kome, 
509, 749. _ 

Suessa, 200. 

SuflFets of Carthage, 202. 

Sulpicius, P., tribune, elo- 
quence, 533. Agent of Ma- 
rius, ib. Death, 580. 

Sumptuary laws, 471. 

Sun-dial, first at Kome, 409. 

Superstition, prevalence of, 
at end of republic, 750. 

Sybaris, early greatness, 18. 

Sylla, L. Cornelius (Felix), 
early life, 553. Quaestor 
of Marius, ib. Sent to 
Bocchus, 564. Brings Ju- 
gurtha to JIarius, ih. Lieu 
tenant of Marius in Cim 
brie War, 558. Transfers 
services to Catulus, 501. 
Prsetor, 571. Splendid lion- 
fight, ib. Governor of Cili- 
cia, ib. Reduces Samnites, 
578. Takes Bovianum, 579. 
Rivalry with Marius, 5S2. 
Commands against Mithri- 
dates, ib. Marches upon 
Rome, 534, seq. Occupies 
city, 5S5. Difficulties, 587. 
Embarks for East, 5S8. Be- 
sieges Athens, 597. Defeats 
Pontic generals at Chaeronea 
and Orchomenus, 598, seq. 
Interview with Archelaus, 
509. Peace with Mithri- 



TATIBINI. 

dates, ih. Message to 
senate, 002. Answer of 
senate, ib. Sylla' s reply, 
003. Lands in Italy, ib. 
Defeats Norbanus, 004. 
And Scipio, 005. Defeats 
young Marius, COO. Enters 
Rome, 007. Attacks Carbo 
at Clusium, ib. Marches 
to meet . Samnites, ib. 
Marches to relieve Kome, 
008. Critical position, 009. 
Eventual victory, ib. En- 
ters Rome second time, ib. 
Barbarous vengeance, 010. 
Adopts name of Felix, 
Oil. Proscription-lists, ib. 
Perpetual dictator, 013. 
Triumph, ib. Laws, 014, 
seq. Consul 2nd time, 017. 
Carelessness, ib. Retires 
to Pnteoli, 018. Mode of 
life, 019. Death and cha- 
racter, ib. 

Syphax, entertains Scipio 
and Hasdrubal Gisgo, 350. 
Forms alliance with Scipio, 
ib. Joins Carthaginians, 
359. Treacherously sur- 
prised by Masinissa, 302. 

Syracuse, 229. Republic pro 
claimed, 327. Joins Rome, 
ib. Its increase, ib. Be 
sieged by Marcellus, 327, 
seq. Taken, 329. 

Syria, condition of, 413. 

Syrian War, 432, seq. 

Syrus, P., Mimes, 740. 



Tabernce Novce and Veteres, 
45. 

TanaquU, 39. 

Tarentum, its interest in 2nd 
Samnite War, 200. Ancient 
grandeur, 228. Account of, 
230, seg. Treaty with Rome, 
232. Breach of treaty by 
Roman fleet, 234. Taren 
tines insult Postumius, 235. 
Invite Pyrrhus, ib. Submit 
to Rome, 249. Taken by 
Hannibal, 331. Recovered 
by Fabins, 342. 

Tarpeian hill, 20. 

Tarquinii, city of Etruria, 39 
War with Rome, 175. 

Tarquinius Priscus, comes to 
Rome, 39. Institutions, 40, 
seq. Death, 45. 

Tarquinius Superbus. seventh 
king, 57. Death, 69. 

Tarquinius, Sextus, takes 
Gabii, 00. Rape of Lucre 
tia, 01. Death, 03. 

Tatius, Titus, 20-28. 

Taurini (Gauls of Turin), con- 
quered by Hannibal, 303. 



TKEA6UEY. 

Tauromenium, siege and cap- 
ture of, by Rupilius, 500. 

Taxation, doubled after Can- 
nse, 320. How managed, 
389. 

Teiinum, calls in Campanians 
against Samnites, 180. 
Sylla' s victory there, 327. 

Telamon, battle of, 289. 

Ten Tables. See Deceinvirate. 

Terentilius Harsa, C, tri- 
bune, 112. Law for decem- 
vlrate, 114. 

Terentius Afer, P., his Adel- 
phi performed at funeral 
of ^milius PauUus, 471. 
Account of, 511, seq. 

Terminulia, 32. 

Terni, falls of, 411. 

Teuta, queen of the Illyrians, 
war with Rome, 287. 

Teutones, origin, 557. Pour 
into Gaul, 559. Pass Ma- 
rius, ib. Annihilated at 
Aix, 500. 

Thapsus, battle of, 691. 

Theatres, Greek, 234, seq. 
Stone, prohibited at Rome, 
514. Chief use of, 5i5. 

Thermon, sacked by Philip 
v., 417. Burnt a second 
time, 421. 

ThermopylEe, battle of, 435. 

Thessalonica, 404. Retreat 
of Cicero, 659. Head-quar- 
ters of Pompey, C80. 

Thessaly, repubUcs of, 430. 

Three, prevalent number i:i 
Roman legends, 23, 24. 
Partly superseded by two, 
31, 4U. 

Thoas, persuades Antiochus 
to invade Greece, 434. 

Thurii, defended by Rome, 
232. Raises statue to Fa- 
bricius, 234. Destroyed by 
Tarentines, 2S5. Occupied 
by Hannibal, 332. 

Tibur, position of, 84. Joins 
Gauls, 175. How treated 
after Latin War, 193. 

TicTnus, cavalry skirmish 
there with Hannibal, 303. 

Tiftta, mount, occupied by 
Samnites, 180. Hannibal's 
camp there, 323. Sylla at- 
tacks Marians there, 604. 

Tigranes, 595. King of kings, 
631, 632. Defeated by Lu- 
cuUus, 632. Submits to 
Pompey, 030. 

Tities or Titians, 30, 39. 

"Toulouse gold," 557. 

Tragedy, at Rome, 514. 

Trasimene, battle there, 306. 

Treasures, sacred, used in 
2nd Punic War, 342. By 
Csesar, 077. 

Treasury, 389. 



168 



INDEX. 



Trebia, battle there, 304. 

Tiebonius, C, moves to con- 
fer provinces on first tri- 
umvirs, 666. Legate of Cae- 
sar, 6TT. Conspirator, TOO. 
Takes possession of Asia 
Minor, T15. Deatli, ib. 

Tresviri, -who, 253. 

Triarii, who, 18S. 

Tribes, patrician, 29, 43, seq. 
Of the city and country, 399. 

Tribes, plebeian, of Servius, 
50. Become twenty-one, 
81. Twenty-five, 155, 1T3. 
Twenty-seven, 1T4. Twen- 
ty-nine, 193. Thirty-one, 
197. Tliirty-three, 203. Ex- 
tent of district so divided, 
251. Thirty-five, 286. Al- 
tered to admit Italians, 581. 

Tribuni asrarii, 50, 390. 
Supply l-3rd of judices, 626. 

Tribuni miliUires consulari 
potestati, 130. Military tri- 
bunate divided into three 
periods, 131, seq. Plebe- 
ians, when elected, 132. 

Tribuni militum, or legion- 
ary tribunes, 182. 

Tribuni plebis, creation, 91, 
seq. Number, 93. Original 
power, 93, 94. Persons pro- 
tected, 94. Increased to 
five, elected by the comitia 
tributa, 100. Increased to 
ten, 120. Power in the 
time of the Gracchi, 530, 
523, 541. Tribunitian power 
abolished by Sylla, 615. 
Kestored by Pompey, 626. 
Appropriated by Octavian, 
T33. 

Trlbus, original sense of, 29. 

Tributum, property-tax in 
war, 390. Repaid, 391. Le- 
vied but once after battle 
of Pydna, 503, TIO. 

Triumviri mensarii, 320. 

Triumviri agn dividendi, 520. 

Triumviri rei constituendce, 
title of Antony, Octavian, 
and Lepidus, 712; cf 654. 

Tubero, Q. iElius, 532. 

2'uUianum, prison, 36. 

TuUus Hostilius, third king, 
a Roman, 34. Death, 36. 

Tunis, taken, 272. 

Tunnel. See Emissarium. 

Tusculum, 84. 

Twelve Tables, 124-127. 

Tyrants, 22S, seq. 

u. 

Umbrians, 16. Call in G-auls, 
210. Submit to Rome, 250 



Usury, condemned by Cato, 

455. 
Utica, 490. 

V. 

Vadimo, battle of, 233. 

Valerio-Horatian laws, 121. 

Valerius Antias, Q., 738. 

Valerius Corvus", M., battle 
with Gaul and origin of his 
name, 151. Consul, defeats 
Samnites, 180. Dictator, 
182. Engaged in 2nd Sam- 
nite War, 200. 

Valerius Flaccus, L., patron 
and friend of Cato, 450. 

Valerius Flaccus, L., super 
sedes SyUa in the East, 598 
Murdered, ib. 

Valerius Flaccus, L., princeps 
senatus, 602. Law to make 
SyUa dictator, 612. Master 
of the horse, 613. 

Valerius Poplicola, P., 64. 
His house, 396. 

Valerius, M., dictator, 93. 

Valerius Potitus, L., consul 
after decemvirs, 120. 

Valerius Lsevluus, P., de- 
feated by Pyrrhus, 241. 

Valerius Lsevlnus, M., sta- 
tioned at Brundusium, 325. 
Finishes war in Sicily, 330, 
337. Proposes patriotic 
loan, 339. Refuses to name 
Fulvius dictator, 340. Able 
government of Sicily, 344. 
Moves rejection of peace 
with Carthage, 365. Suc- 
cessful war against Philip 
v., 420. Forms league with 
./Etolians, ib. Sent back to 
Greece on outbreak of 2nd 
Macedonian War, 422. 

Varius Rufus, poet, 744. 

Varro, C. Terentius, consul, 
311. Character, ib. Insists 
on fighting at CannK, 312. 
Escapes to Venusia, 314. 
Reception by senate, 317. 
Posted at Ariminum to 
watch Gauls, 346. 

Varro, M. Terentius, life and 
writings, 738. 

Varus, leader of Pompeians 
in Africa, 679, 689. Es- 
capes to Spain, 691, 693. 
Death, 694. 

Veii, 86. Veientine War with 
Fabii, 109. Tolumnius 
elected Lar, 138. Attempt 
to assist Fidense, ib. Siege 
of Veii, 139, seq. Fall of 
Veii, 140. Proposal to mi- 
grate thither, defeated, 141, 



Second proposal, after 
burning of city, 153. 

Velabrum, 54. 

Velia, 55, 396. 

Ventidius Bassus, P., triumph 
over Parthians, 723. 

Venusia, colony, 215. Defies 
Hannibal, 309. 

Vercellse, Cimbrians annihi- 
lated there, 561. 

Verres, C.Cornelius, plunders 
military chest, 608. Im- 
peached by Cicero, 627, seq. 

Ver sacrum, what, 177. 

Vesta, her worship, 31. 

Vestal virgins, 31, 40. 

Vestinians, 16, 178. Allies of 
Rome, 208. 

Vesuvius, battle of, 189. 

Veto of tribunes, 94. 

Vici or wards of city, 32. 

Villieus, who, 398. 

Villius Tappulus, P., 424. 

Vindex, vindicias dare, 118. 

Virgilius Maro, P., the poet, 
recovers his patrimony, 720. 
His life and writings, 744. 

Virginia, legend of, 117, seq. 

Viriathus, 491. His shame- 
ful death, 492. 

Volunes, 323. 

Volscians, 16. Country, 84. 
Take many Latin towns, 
101. Led by Coriolanus 
against Rome, 104, seq. 
Checked by Sp. Cassius, 
109, 137. 

Vulsinii, city of Etruria, war 
with Rome, 207, 210. Re- 
newed, 233. Taken by Ro- 
mans, 250. Magnificent re- 
mains, ib. 

Vulturnus, river, 178. 



w. 



6 78 



Wall of Sei-vius Tullius, 53. 

Wolf and twins, image, 407. 

Women, influence on man- 
ners, and increasing profli- 
gacy, 449. ,•• 



Xanthippus, defeats Regulus, 

273. 
Xanthus, its brave resistance 

to Brutus, 715. 



Year, lunar, its xise in early 
times, 32. Mode of correct- 
ing, 696. Julian, 697. 



Zama, battle of, 365. 



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